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Coronary artery spasm - Symptom

Alternative Names

Variant angina; Angina - variant; Prinzmetal's angina

Symptoms:

The main symptom is type of chest pain called angina, which can be felt under the chest bone and is described as:

Constricting
Crushing
Pressure
Squeezing
Tightness

It is usually severe. The pain may spread to the neck, jaw, shoulder, or arm.

The pain:

Often occurs at rest
May occur at the same time each day, usually between midnight and 8:00 AM.
Lasts from 5 to 30 minutes

The person may lose consciousness.

Signs and tests:

Tests to diagnose coronary artery spasm may include:

Angina

Coronary artery spasm

Artery cut section

Reviewed last on: 5/19/2008
Larry A. Weinrauch, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, and Private practice specializing in Cardiovascular Disease, Watertown, MA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

References

Cannon CP, Braunwald E. Unstable angina and non-ST elevation myocardial infarction. In: Libby P, Bonow RO, Mann DL, Zipes DP, eds. Libby: Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine. 8th ed. Saunders; 2007:chap 53.

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