coronary artery dissection
Last reviewed 01/2018
Coronary artery dissection
- coronary artery dissection is a rare cause of myocardial infarction
- is not due to atherosclerosis and occurs more commonly in women than men,
characteristically during or soon after pregnancy. It presents as a classical
myocardial infarction, but is often misdiagnosed because inexperienced doctors
fail to consider a heart attack in a young woman with no risk factors for
atherosclerosis
- treatment is by angioplasty and stenting, or occasionally, bypass surgery. Because diagnosis is frequently delayed, women with coronary artery dissection are often left with substantial, permanent myocardial damage
Reference:
- 1) BHF Factfile (November 2010). Women and coronary heart disease