Conservative treatment with an intra-aortic balloon pump to treat acute myocardial infarction due to spontaneous coronary artery dissection

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is a rare cause of acute coronary syndrome. Treatment for SCAD includes conservative approaches, percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), and coronary artery bypass graft surgery. Although the success rate of PCI is low, conservative treatment often leads to a good clinical course. Three patients with SCAD who were conservatively treated with intra-aortic balloon pumping without coronary intervention are presented. All three patients continue to do well. <Learning objective: The treatment for spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) has not yet been established. Intra-aortic balloon pumping (IABP) is a potential conservative treatment for SCAD that increases coronary blood flow. However, IABP could worsen the dissection. In this report, IABP was safely used for SCAD and patients had a good clinical course without worsening the dissection.>.