Vascular endothelial function and carotid intima-media thickness in patients with isolated coronary artery ectasia and exercise-induced angina pectoris

Abstract

Coronary artery ectasia (CAE) has been defined as localized or diffuse nonobstructive lesions of the epicardial coronary arteries with a luminal dilatation≥1.5 times of the adjacent normal segments [1]. And, isolated CAE was defined as CAE without significant stenosis or occlusion of the coronary artery [2]. The etiology of CAE is obscure and usually considered a variant of coronary atherosclerosis [1,3,4]. However, the atherosclerotic process is not mandatory for ectatic transformation [5,6]. Recent evidence suggest that the mechanism underlying the development of CAE is a diffuse vascular pathology of the medial layer rather than a localized coronary atherosclerosis [7–9].