'Women should not ignore unusual chest pain'

Chennai, Aug 12 (PTI) A woman without any usual risk factors for heart related diseases was diagnosed with having a crack in the wall of a major coronary artery and she recovered with conventional medical treatment, a private hospital here said on Monday.

A routine angiogram was performed for the woman who had a history of chest pain for about 24 hours. It did not reveal any obstruction except in a small vessel which was insignificant.

In a press release, Sri Ramachandra Medical Centre said she was admitted and given conventional treatment. However, the next day she had an excruciating pain. So the angiography was repeated which showed a crack in the wall of the major coronary artery throttling the blood flow.

"This is unusual and very rare. This is called Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection (SCAD). Various procedures were considered but deferred due to likely unexpected complications. She settled down without any further active treatment. She was advised to avoid stress and severe exercise and discharged," it said.

This rare heart attack is more common in women in the age group of 50–60 years, with hypertension and mental stress, which indicates such women should not ignore any unusual and excruciating chest pain. In this case, the woman did not have usual risk factors for heart diseases including obesity, the release added. PTI VGN SA