Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection in a Patient with Undiagnosed Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome

Cureus. 2019 Feb 13;11(2):e4065. doi: 10.7759/cureus.4065.

Abstract

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is a rare and deadly cause of acute myocardial infarction (MI). It remains greatly misdiagnosed and carries a high in-hospital mortality rate. Herein, we report a healthy 38-year-old female who presented to our institution for non-ST segment myocardial infarction, in which subsequent coronary angiogram revealed a type 2 spontaneous coronary artery dissection of the obtuse marginal branch with diffuse single-vessel disease of the circumflex artery. After a thorough evaluation, the patient was found to have underlying Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome that was previously undiagnosed. The patient was medically treated with dual antiplatelet therapy and statin and discharged with strict follow-up. This case is a good example of a rare and life-threatening disease process that was observed in a patient who was found to have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome that was previously unknown.

Keywords: circumflex coronary artery; connective tissue disease; ehlers-danlos syndrome; myocardial infarction; obtuse marginal artery; scad; spontaneous coronary artery dissection.

Publication types

  • Case Reports