Caucasian patients suffering from coronary vasospastic angina have an intact peripheral endothelium-dependent vasoreactivity

Abstract 

We sought to evaluate whether Caucasian patients suffering from vasospastic angina have a decreased brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD) like their Japanese counterparts and whether certain serum factors known to be associated with impaired vasomotility or endothelial dysfunction are abnormal. In this prospectively conducted study, 33 subjects presenting with resting angina were identified to suffer from coronary vasospastic angina (coronary spasm group). A control group of 19 subjects with matched cardiovascular risk profiles was defined out of patients admitted to our hospital for evaluation of atypical chest pain. Intracoronary acetylcholine(ACh)-testing for vasospasm was performed in all patients after coronary artery disease (CAD) had been ruled out. Brachial artery FMD was measured using high-resolution ultrasound. There was no significant difference in brachial artery FMD between the coronary spasm and the control group (7.05±2.24% vs. 7.12±2.50%; p=0.93). The endothelium-independent vasodilator response of the brachial artery to sublingual nitroglycerin did not differ either between the two groups (21.88±6.13% vs. 21.48±7.38%; p=0.84). Simple and multiple linear regression analysis revealed that only baseline brachial artery diameter was a significant determinant of FMD (p<0.0001). No relationship could be detected between impaired coronary vasomotility and peripheral endothelium-dependent or independent vasodilation in Caucasian patients suffering from coronary vasospastic angina illustrating a further clue for racial differences in the pathophysiology of vasospastic angina.

Keywords: Coronary vasospasm, Endothelial dysfunction, Flow-mediated dilation, Acetylcholine testing