Case Report
Copyright ©2012 Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited. All rights reserved.
World J Cardiol. Apr 26, 2012; 4(4): 130-134
Published online Apr 26, 2012. doi: 10.4330/wjc.v4.i4.130
Progressive deterioration of left ventricular function in a patient with a normal coronary angiogram
Quan-Zhou Feng, Liu-Quan Cheng, Yu-Feng Li
Quan-Zhou Feng, Yu-Feng Li, Institute of Geriatric Cardiology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China
Liu-Quan Cheng, Department of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China
Author contributions: Feng QZ analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript; Li YF performed coronary angiography; Cheng LQ performed cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging.
Correspondence to: Quan-Zhou Feng, MD, PhD, Institute of Geriatric Cardiology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Fuxing Road 28, Beijing100853, China. fqz301@yahoo.com
Telephone: +86-10-66937861 Fax: +86-10-88626186
Received: October 5, 2011
Revised: March 14, 2012
Accepted: March 21, 2012
Published online: April 26, 2012
Abstract

Cardiac ischemia with a normal coronary angiogram can be caused by coronary microvascular dysfunction. A favorable prognosis, with excellent long-term clinical outcome, without major acute coronary events, has been consistently reported in these patients. We report a patient with a normal coronary angiogram and 3 episodes of myocardial infarctions, where the formation of a ventricular aneurysm and progressive deterioration of left ventricular function was documented, and hypoperfusion of the myocardium was confirmed by cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging. This case suggests that myocardial ischemia caused by coronary microvascular dysfunction could have a poor prognosis. Whether this case represents a special clinical condition which is between the cardiac syndrome X and coronary artery disease remains to be investigated.

Keywords: Coronary angiogram; Myocardial ischemia; Myocardial infarction; Microvascular dysfunction; Ventricular aneurysm