A SCAD (sudden coronary artery dissection) is a sudden tear in one of the coronary vessels, causing a heart attack. This type of heart attack is more common in women than in men, especially those aged 45-60 years. In rare cases, it can occur at the end of a pregnancy or during childbirth.

It is striking that in these patients there is usually little or no atherosclerosis visible in the coronary vessels. Also, there are usually no risk factors present, although smoking and high blood pressure are common. Some of the patients have fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD), a thickening of connective tissue in a coronary artery, which can also occur in blood vessels elsewhere in the body.

The relationship with other connective tissue disorders is much less clear.

It is still unknown how SCAD develops, how we can best treat it and what the chances are that it will happen again. We also do not know why it is more often about (young) women.

Questions that also result in a great deal of uncertainty for the patients themselves, especially because they are young people who are still in the middle of life.

Click here for an interesting article about SCAD 

FMD

Fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD) is a disease that causes abnormal cell development in the arterial walls of one or more medium-sized arteries in the body. This can cause narrowing (stenosis), aneurysm or a tear (dissection) in the blood vessels. A narrowing or tear causes a decrease in blood flow, which can have various consequences.

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