Prinzmetal's/Variant Angina

Hi Annie, My cardiologist "suspects" that I suffer from coronary artery spasm. Had a severe heart attack 34 years ago while playing basketball. Subsequent catherization found no blockage. Over the years stress tests have led to the belief that I have blockage and subsequent cath have always found no blockage. Dr. feels the most likely cause is arterial spasm, but evidently there is no way to prove it. Rarely do AI have angina. May use a nitro pill once or twice yearly. It was more frequent in the years after the heart attack. Recently have experienced arrithmia and a-fib. Just had a CRT-Defib device implanted.

There IS a test for it tho it is not always accurate. It is a form of cardiac cath that involves an attempt to incite spasms with medication. Mayo does it. Get one done.

Hi Annie,
I was just in the hospital where a angiogram was done. The amazing thing is that I had one done in October 2010 that showed 50% blockage in LAD and 20 % in two other arteries. The one done this past Monday showed 0% percent blockage. That is not heard of so I was told I was having Spasms of my cornary arteries and that the angio done in October was of a spasm in process. It would show up as a blockage. Told that I still at some point i still may get cornary artery disease. Also told that I needed to take long acting nitro to help with the spasms. Do not know that much about the spasms but I was happy that I did not need a stent. Best of luck.

If I ever need another cath for some reason, I'll discuss this with my Doctor. Don't see the need to have a catherization only to prove something I believe is probably true. Right now I'm more concerned about my newly implanted CRT-D which probably needs some reprogramming.

My post was for Annie. Did not see your comment. There is also an MRI now for determining Coronary Microvascular Disease

Annie: There is a special angiogram to test for low coronary flow reserve and vasospasms. There is also an MRI now for determining Coronary Microvascular Disease. Getting the dx of Coronary Microvascular Disease is very important if you do not have the typical test results of a man with big vessel disease. Most cardiologists only know how to treat big vessel disease. Once you get dx with CMVD you can find a doctor who specializes in it and get better care.
In California, Bairy Noel is a specialist. I see Carl Pepine in Florida, another specialist. If you cannot find a specialist near you call one of these and ask for a referral. They are running the studies being conducted on women and heart disease and CMVD. They can offer the cutting edge medications and tests.

I have chronic Prinzmetal angina and would like to find others who have or know about it

Welcome to Connect @lisab62.
I moved your message to this older discussion thread in the hopes that you can meet other members talking about Prinzmetal's angina (also known as variant angina). I'm also tagging @smiles @HeartPatches and @donnac1969, who more recently written about angina.

@lisab62 -how long have you been living with variant angina and what do you do to manage it?

About 5 years. Tried combination of medications and still could not get it stable and then went to Mayo in Rochester. I'm not able to have heart bypass and last September had a spinal cord stimulator put in along with medications<br />
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@lisab62 you may be interested in joining this discussion about neurostimulators https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/has-anybody-had-an-implantable-neurostimulator-for-chronic-pain/