What's wrong with this artery? A medical disease discovered by a surgeon.

Vasvi Singh, Saurav Luthra, Ruth Kouides, Abdel K Gadir
Author Information
  1. Vasvi Singh: Department of Internal Medicine, Unity Health System, Rochester, New York, USA.
  2. Saurav Luthra: Department of Internal Medicine, Unity Health System, Rochester, New York, USA.
  3. Ruth Kouides: Department of Internal Medicine, Unity Health System, Rochester, New York, USA.
  4. Abdel K Gadir: Department of Internal Medicine, Unity Health System, Rochester, New York, USA.

Abstract

A 50-year-old man presenting with chest pain had positive stress echocardiography; and angiogram showed single artery coronary stenosis, presumed to be atherosclerotic. He was started on optimal medical therapy with good compliance. Four months later, he had a myocardial infarction (MI) and cardiac catheterisation surprisingly showed interval development of severe three-vessel stenosis. He underwent coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), during which the cardiothoracic surgeon noticed severely inflamed coronary arteries, concerning for vasculitis. Following CABG, the patient continued to have chest pain and was admitted again for MI within 4 months of surgery. Subsequent autoimmune workup was consistent with sarcoidosis. He was started on immunosuppressive therapy for presumed sarcoid-related coronary vasculitis, and 23 months later, the patient has not developed further ischaemic events. This is a rare case and extends the clinical spectrum of cardiac sarcoidosis, presenting with rapidly progressive coronary stenosis most likely due to vasculitis, mimicking atherosclerotic coronary artery disease.

References

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MeSH Term

Cardiomyopathies
Coronary Angiography
Coronary Artery Bypass
Coronary Stenosis
Electrocardiography
Humans
Immunosuppressive Agents
Male
Middle Aged
Sarcoidosis
Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Chemicals

Immunosuppressive Agents

Word Cloud

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