Infarctus du myocarde sous paclitaxel

Acute Myocardial Infarction in Patient With Triple Negative Breast Cancer After Paclitaxel Infusion: A Case Report

A 47-year-old woman with breast cancer suffered progressive chest pain and flushing within 5 minutes of her second exposure to paclitaxel. Her symptoms progressed and she became pulseless. Advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) was initiated, and after a series of chest compressions the cardiac monitor revealed ventricular fibrillation. With ongoing ACLS she was transferred to the emergency department where she regained a pulse. Review of electrocardiogram revealed prominent ST elevation in leads V1, V2 and V3 with reciprocal ST depression. She was transferred urgently to the catheterization laboratory. Angiography revealed a high-grade stenosis in the proximal left anterior descending artery (LAD), and drug-eluting stents were placed without complications. She was then transferred to the floor and shortly thereafter suffered pulseless electrical activity and died despite prolonged attempts at resuscitation. Herein, we describe the development of acute myocardial infarction after paclitaxel administration, discuss potential etiologies and review evidence for an allergic component.

Coronary Stents, Hypersensitivity Reactions, and the Kounis Syndrome

The use of drug-eluting stents (DES) for the treatment of coronary stenosis has increased sharply and now accounts for more than 75% of all coronary stents utilized. However, concern has been increasing that DES could be associated with stent thrombosis, paradoxical coronary vasoconstriction, and hypersensitivity reactions. Components of currently used DES have been reported to induce, either separately or synergistically, hypersensitivity reactions and possibly lead to cardiac events. DES-activated intracoronary mast cells could release histamine, arachidonic acid metabolites, proteolytic enzymes, as well as a variety of cytokines, chemokines, and platelet-activating factor (PAF) leading to local inflammation and thrombosis. These events may be more common than suspected because it is hard to document them, unless they become systemic, in which case they manifest themselves as the "Kounis syndrome," characterized by the concurrence of acute coronary events with hypersensitivity reactions. Recognition of this problem may lead to better vigilance, as well as new DES with mast cell blocking molecules that may also be disease modifying.