Successful management of refractory lethal coronary spasm after off-pump coronary bypass grafting.

Coronary artery spasm after coronary artery bypass grafting is a rare cause of acute myocardial infarction. A 68-year-old man who successfully tolerated off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting had a life-threatening spasm at 16 hours postoperatively. Emergent coronary angiography was performed and demonstrated whole vessel spasm of the bilateral coronary arteries and completely patent grafts. Several transcatheter intracoronary injections of vasodilators failed to relieve the spasm completely. After observation in ICU for 4 days with intra-aortic balloon pumping and a high dose of catecholamine, cardiac function was re-established and the patient recovered.