Cardiac Syndrome X: Mystery Continues

摘要

Cardiac syndrome X (CSX) continues to be a mystery for clinicians who see patients with symptoms suggestive of obstructive coronary disease but who in fact lack evidence of coronary obstruction. Mysterious, this syndrome also stands out by the fact that it appears to preferentially affect women. In this supplement issue of the Canadian Journal of Cardiology (CJC) focused on persistent cardiac pain, CSX rightly deserves discussion by Arthur et al., alongside other outstanding topics in cardiology, such as mechanisms of cardiac pain (Rosen ), classification of nonrevascularizable patients (Jolicoeur et al. ), re-" fractory angina management (McGillion et al. ), and the continued problem, impact, and management of stable angina (Parker ). While Arthur et al. provide a comprehensive coverage of the current state of our knowledge of CSX, we, in this editorial, would like to emphasize some of the points raised regarding CSX in the hope of helping to demystify this syndrome and provide a useful roadmap for the future.