Sudden Cardiac Death : Look Closely at the Coronaries for Spontaneous Dissection Which Can Be Missed. A Study of 9 Cases

To evaluate non-atherosclerotic cardiac deaths in the UK population aged over 15 years including elderly patients and to highlight the concept of the structurally normal heart in sudden death. Pathological data were collected prospectively for sudden adult deaths referred by UK coroners. 453 cases of sudden death from 1994 to 2003 (278 men (61.4%) and 175 women (38.6%), age range 15-81 years) were reviewed. Males predominated in both age groups ( 35 years). More than half of the hearts (n = 269, 59.3%) were structurally normal. In the other 40.7%, cardiac abnormalities were noted, which included: (1) cardiomyopathies (23%) such as idiopathic fibrosis, left ventricular hypertrophy, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, dilated cardiomyopathy, and arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia; (2) inflammatory disorders (8.6%) including lymphocytic myocarditis and cardiac sarcoidosis; (3) non-atheromatous abnormalities of coronary arteries (4.6%); (4) valve diseases; and (5) miscellaneous and rare causes. The concept of the structurally normal heart in sudden death and the need for histological examination to detect underlying disease is highlighted. Relatives need to be referred for cardiological and genetic screening in cases of normal hearts found at necropsy.

We set out to determine the incidence of iatrogenic coronary artery dissection extending into the aorta and to characterize the aortic lesions. We reviewed the data from 43,143 cardiac catheterizations from September 1993 through September 1999 and found 9 coronary artery-aortic dissections for an overall incidence of 0.02%. Four of these patients were undergoing treatment for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and aortic dissection was more common than for non-AMI patients (0.19% vs. 0.01%, P 40 mm from the coronary os required surgical intervention.

We describe the clinical course of three patients who developed spontaneous coronary artery dissection. All patients were young women, one 9 weeks pregnant. All presented with chest pain; one died suddenly proving refractory to resuscitation, another developed unstable angina culminating in myocardial infarction, cardiogenic shock and death, and the third patient underwent coronary artery bypass grafting following diagnosis of a spontaneous coronary dissection of the left anterior descending artery at angiography. Pathological findings in the two fatal cases are reported. This condition, although rare, is a prominent cause of ischaemic coronary events in young women, when it is frequently associated with pregnancy or the puerperium. Most patients die suddenly, but a clinical spectrum is seen including stable and unstable angina, myocardial infarction and cardiogenic shock. The left anterior descending artery is most frequently affected. The classical histological finding is that of a large haematoma occupying the outer third of the media resulting in complete compression of the true lumen. The cause of spontaneous dissection remains unclear but theories of aetiology include a medial eosinophilic angiitis, pregnancy-induced degeneration of collagen in conjunction with the stresses of parturition, and rupture of the vasal vasorum. The diagnosis must be considered when a patient presents with a suggestive clinical profile. Urgent angiography should be undertaken to establish the diagnosis and consideration given to the need for coronary artery bypass grafting, which has been successfully employed in a number of patients. The uneventful long-term survival of cases treated conservatively has been reported.