Trends in Incidence, Characteristics, and In-Hospital Outcomes of Patients Presenting With Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection (From a National Population-Based Cohort Study Between 2004 and 2015)

Though infrequent, spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is increasingly recognized as an important cause of acute coronary syndrome (ACS), particularly in young healthy women. However, the population-based incidence of SCAD is unknown. We evaluated the incidence, patient characteristics, clinical characteristics, and mortality of SCAD-related hospitalizations using data from a national population-based cohort study from January 1, 2004, to September 30, 2015. In 13,573,200 patients who presented with an acute coronary syndrome, 66,360 (0.49%) of patients were diagnosed with SCAD. The mean age was 63.1 ± 13.2 years and 44.2% were women. In-hospital mortality of SCAD patients was 4.2%: 5.03% in females and 3.55% in males (p < 0.001). In conclusion, SCAD is an uncommon diagnosis that should be considered in males and older patients in addition to females presenting with ACS. Most SCAD patients today are managed medically. In-hospital mortality is comparable to that of other patients who present with ACS.