Patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) are destined to lifelong antiplatelet therapy in form of aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) alone, or in combination with other P2Y2 inhibitors. Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are the preferred agents for the treatment and prophylaxis of gastrointestinal injury associated with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug or acetylsalicylic acid or both,1 but recent data has raised questions about their association with negative cardiovascular events. We report 2 cases of patients with known CAD presented with chest pain mimicking angina pectoris that successfully resolved on discontinuation of the PPIs. One male and one female patient with known history of CAD receiving PPIs were referred to us with symptoms of refractory angina that was unresponsive to conventional optimized medical therapy. The angina was reported to be related to exertion in both the patients. Neither patient had a diagnosis of Prinzmetal angina or peptic ulcer disease; however, both patients reported a history of gastroesophageal reflux disease. Both patients were on dual antiplatelet therapy. No ischemic changes on the electrocardiogram were noted for either patient. Patient 1 had an exercise stress test that was negative for any inducible ischemia whereas patient 2 had no obstructive lesion seen on coronary angiography. Both patients reported to be symptom free after discontinuation of PPIs at 8 months of follow-up. It is our opinion that a relationship between PPIs and angina-like chest pain is plausible, as these 2 cases demonstrate the causative role of PPIs in precipitation of their symptoms. We postulate that this association should be considered in differential diagnosis of chest pain. In light of above findings we suggest that this is hypothesis generating and we are exploring the role of PPIs in patients with history of CAD and refractory angina-like symptoms despite complete revascularization.
Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc.