Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection (SCAD)
CASE STUDY: 38 year old lady presents to A&E with chest pain
- Presenting Complaint: Central chest pain
- History of PC: Acute onset and associated with jaw pain, nausea and sweating
- Past Medical History: No risk factors for coronary artery disease. Post-partum.
Given the demographics and the lack of risk factors, are you still confident about your differential diagnosis of myocardial infarction?
You should be because Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection causes heart attack, heart failure and can be fatal. However it does not present in ‘your typical heart attack patient’ according to Dr David Adlam from the University of Leicester. The charity BeatSCAD is urging medical professionals to learn more about this life-threatening condition. Their website has up-to-date information on symptoms, diagnosis (angiography & high level of suspicion) and treatment. Crucially, emergency treatment is not the same for SCAD as it is for acute coronary syndrome caused by atherosclerosis. Research shows that primary coronary intervention has a lower success rate in SCAD and conservative management is often required.
BeatSCAD are holding their 3rd annual symposium at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham on 9th June. Registration closes tomorrow. More information can be found here.
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