103. Case Report: A Rare Cause of Postpartum Angina and Arrest – University of Maryland

CardioNerds (Amit Goyal & Daniel Ambinder) join University of Maryland cardiology fellows (Manu Mysore, Adam Zviman, and Scott Butler) for some cardiology and an Orioles game in Baltimore! They discuss a rare cause of postpartum angina and cardiac arrest due to coronary vasculitis. Program director Dr. Mukta Srivastava provides the E-CPR expert segment and a message for applicants. Episode notes were developed by Johns Hopkins internal medicine resident Rick Ferraro with mentorship from University of Maryland cardiology fellow Karan Desai.

This case has been published in JACC Case Reports!

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Patient Summary

A woman in her early 30s with a past medical history of Hashimoto's thyroiditis and one prior miscarriage at <8 weeks presented with chest pain about 6 weeks postpartum from the birth of her third child. In the ED, she continued to report intermittent sharp chest discomfort and found to have a diastolic decrescendo murmur at the left upper sternal border and labs demonstrating a troponin-I of 0.07 ng/dL. Join the UMD Cardionerds for the incredible course and story of this young patient as we go through the differentia and approach to postpartum chest pain and ultimately arrive in a very rare diagnosis!   For a detailed course, enjoy the JACC case report.

Case Media

Visit the JACC Case Reports to review the case media!

Episode Schematics & Teaching

The CardioNerds 5! – 5 major takeaways from the #CNCR case

1. How Do We Evaluate Chest Pain in Younger Patients 

Start with the same things as everyone else!  Think broadly about the big three concerning etiologies of chest pain: Cardiac, Gastric, and Pulmonary (The excellent Clinical Problems Solvers 4+2+2 construct here is always a great resource. Find them at: https://clinicalproblemsolving.com/dx-schema-chest-pain/).   Of course it is important to think about non-life threatening etiologies as well – esophageal spasm, gastric ulcer, rib fracture, skin lesion, among many others - given that high-risk chest pain is less likely in younger adults.  While less common, acute coronary syndrome is not uncommon in young patients, as 23% of patients with MI present at age <55 years.  

2. What About Chest Pain in Women?  

As has been discussed on the Cardionerds podcast (Listen to episodes with Dr. Nanette Wenger, Dr Martha Gulati, and Dr. Leslie Cho), women generally present with acute coronary syndrome at a later age, with a higher burden of risk factors than men, and with greater symptom burden but are less likely to be treated with guideline-directed medical therapies, undergo cardiac catheterization and receive timely reperfusion. In one study of young patients with acute MI, women – 19% of cases overall – were less likely to undergo revascularization or receive guideline-directed therapy The construct of classifying chest pain as "typical" and "atypical" likely leads to misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction in women. Rather, it is important to recognize that while symptoms may not be "typical" for angina, coronary disease can manifest in many different ways.  While many women will presents with chest pain suggestive of angina, women are more likely than men to present with dyspnea, indigestion, weakness, nausea/vomiting and/or fatigue. Note, shoulder pain and arm pain are twice as predictive of an acute myocardial infarction diagnosis in women compared with men.  Furthermore, while obstructive epicardial disease remains the primary cause of acute MI in young women,