[A case of postinfarction spontaneous angina: physiopathological study of the therapeutic effectiveness of intra-aortic balloon pumping].

A 46-year-old patient showed spontaneous angina with anterior S-T segment depression 30 hours after an inferior acute myocardial infarction. Myocardial ischemia, which was resistant to drug therapy and induced acute left ventricular failure, was promptly reversed by intra-aortic balloon pumping (IABP). Coronary angiography demonstrated diffuse, severe atherosclerotic disease. Efficacy of IABP in this case of spontaneous angina might be ascribed to an increase of the coronary cross-sectional area in response to the increased intraluminal pressure ("passive vasomotion").