Contemporary management of spontaneous coronary dissection

Introduction and objectives: Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is a rare but increasingly recognized cause for acute coronary syndrome. The optimal management and treatment of SCAD is still unknown. Methods: Data analysis of a prospective protocol including centralized care management of a consecutive series of patients with SCAD diagnosed between January 2010 and December 2018. Major adverse cardiovascular events included all-cause mortality, new myocardial infarction, coronary revascularization, ventricular arrhythmia, heart failure or stroke. Results: A total of 33 consecutive patients were included (41 lesions). Intravascular imaging modalities were used to confirm the diagnosis in 42% patients. None of the patient showed images of thrombus formation in the true lumen. Conservative treatment was the initial approach in most of the cases (82%). No deaths were reported during the index admission, but 15% experienced major adverse cardiovascular events. The coronary computed tomography angiography performed in 58% of patients during the admission identified SCADs in 79% of the patients. Most of the patients managed with conservative treatment received only 1 antiplatelet agent for a limited period of time (17 months [9-35]). During a median clinical follow-up of 33 months [13-49], 82% of patients did not have any adverse events. The angiographic surveillance obtained in 48% of patients at the 6-month follow-up confirmed the complete healing of the SCAD image in 86% of the patients. The screening for extracoronary vascular findings (97% of patients) resulted in a high prevalence of abnormalities (59%). Conclusions: The unrestricted use of intravascular imaging modalities showed no thrombus in the true lumen of patients with SCAD. In patients managed with conservative treatment, a limited course of antiplatelet monotherapy is safe and provides good clinical outcomes. Performing a coronary computed tomography angiography in the acute phase of SCAD is useful at the follow-up. The screening for extracoronary vascular findings confirmed a high prevalence of abnormalities.