Spontaneous dissection of the coronary and vertebral arteries post-partum: case report and review of the literature

Abstract

Background: Spontaneous coronary and vertebral artery dissections are rare events occurring most commonly in otherwise healthy women during pregnancy or the post-partum period.Case presentation: This report describes a 35-year-old female who presented with an acute inferior ST elevation myocardial infarction 7 months post-partum secondary to spontaneous dissection of the left obtuse marginal coronary artery. Despite appropriate medical therapy with dual anti-platelet therapy, the patient presented four weeks later with a spontaneous dissection of the right vertebral artery.Conclusion: We review the presentation, diagnosis, and management of spontaneous dissections of the vasculature in the peri-partum period. © 2012 Cenkowski et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.