Shozo Sueda and Hiroaki Kohno
Pistipino et al. reported that provoked spasm by acetylcholine testing in patients with acute myocardial infarction was three times higher in Japanese patients than Italian Caucasian patients in a small series in 2000. Provoked spasm was investigated between Caucasian and Japanese patients who had undergone spasm provocation testing in the past consecutive series. The incidence of provoked spasm was not different between French Caucasian and Japanese patients with the intravenous injection of ergonovine (12.3% vs. 12.8%, ns). And intracoronary administration of acetylcholine had the same positive provoked spasm between German Caucasian and Japanese populations (33.4% vs. 32.3%, ns). Although the racial difference about coronary spasm was evolved in the past, we may have less racial difference concerning the provoked spasm between Caucasian and Japanese patients, when we performed the spasm provocation testing routinely in the cardiac catheterization laboratory.
