[Clinico-coronarographic comparisons in unstable stenocardia].

The results of coronarography of 145 patients with unstable angina and 102 patients with a stable course of the disease are presented. The findings obtained were analyzed with regard to the clinical variant of progressive coronary insufficiency. It was found that both in patients with progressive angina and in those suffering from attacks of acute coronary insufficiency following the preceding angina, the degree of obstructive damage was virtually the same as in stable angina. At the same time almost half the patients suffering from attacks of acute coronary insufficiency with no history of previous angina showed normal or only slightly altered coronary arteries. The mentioned specific features of the morphological changes seen in a group of patients with acute coronary failure suggest that spasm of the coronary arteries may underlie the pathogenesis of its attacks in patients without a previous history of angina.