Silent severe myocardial ischemia in a past illicit drug user imaged with myocardial perfusion scintigraphy

Patients with illicit drug use may have deleterious acute and chronic cardiac effects. We present a case of a 42-year-old man, former alcohol and various illicit drugs user, who was admitted to the psychiatric unit for management of psychosis. Because of his previous drug and alcohol history, a card...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Perfusion 2022-11, Vol.37 (8), p.863-865
Main Authors: Sioka, Chrissa, Georgiou, Georgios, Katsouras, Christos, Pappas, Konstantinos, Kiortsis, Dimitris-Nikiforos, Fotopoulos, Andreas, Petrikis, Petros
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Drugs
Heart
Ischemia
Medical imaging
Mental disorders
Microvasculature
Myocardial ischemia
Perfusion
Psychosis
Scintigraphy
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Summary:Patients with illicit drug use may have deleterious acute and chronic cardiac effects. We present a case of a 42-year-old man, former alcohol and various illicit drugs user, who was admitted to the psychiatric unit for management of psychosis. Because of his previous drug and alcohol history, a cardiological evaluation was performed which revealed silent severe myocardial ischemia detected by myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI). The myocardial ischemia was attributed to coronary microvascular dysfunction, occurring several years after quitting the illicit drugs. This study highlights the potential myocardial ischemia that may occur in patients with previous alcohol and illicit drug use, and the role of MPI, a non-invasive test that can provide important information regarding the myocardial status of such patients, even without obvious cardiac symptoms or findings.
ISSN:0267-6591
1477-111X
DOI:10.1177/02676591211028175