Spontaneous left main dissection treated by percutaneous coronary intervention

Abstract

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection is a rare cause of acute coronary events or sudden cardiac death. The clinical presentation is highly variable and prognosis varies widely, depending mainly on how rapidly it is diagnosed. Prompt treatment is also essential, and includes medical management, percutaneous coronary intervention and surgical revascularization.We describe the case of a young woman presenting with spontaneous coronary artery dissection of the left main coronary artery, first diagnosed as coronary thrombus, who underwent successful percutaneous coronary stenting. This report highlights the need to include spontaneous coronary artery dissection in differential diagnosis of chest pain in young women and that distinguishing between coronary thrombus and coronary artery dissection is not always straightforward. To our knowledge this is the fourth case of left main stenting in a patient with spontaneous coronary artery dissection described in the literature.