It is with great pleasure to introduce for its second year, the regional Middle East Coronary Spasm and Microvascular Dysfunction (ME- CSMD) Symposium to be held in Dubai, UAE on April 12th, 2025. With the success of our first symposium in 2024 we will be following it up with a monumental program that will continue to shed light on two well-known syndromes, and continue to establish a network of expert cardiologists and primary care physicians in the region.

The prevalence of non-obstructive or no coronary artery disease in patients undergoing coronary angiography is as high as 30-50%.  While many are told their angina, ischemia (INOCA), or even their heart attack (MINOCA) are not due to their arteries, in actuality, up to 50-65% of patients who have angina but no obstructive CAD are believed to have coronary microvascular dysfunction (CMD) – a disorder of the coronary micro-circulation and, furthermore, a large percent of patient’s, upward of 24%, may have Coronary Artery Spasm, historically known as Prinzmetal Angina, a condition in which a patient’s coronary arteries contract to form a temporary functional stenosis.  

Modalities such as PET-CT can assess for microvascular dysfunction, however, invasive coronary angiography with appropriate functional assessment (coronary flow reserve, vasospasm testing) is the only reliable way to assess the complete spectrum and offer appropriate diagnosis & treatment.

Our second-year symposium aims to continue highlighting the latest in this field pertaining to the epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management of coronary microvascular dysfunction and spasm. We will discuss advancements in technology as well best practices and society guidelines.

This year we will also be adding a special session on renal denervation as part of exploring cross interactions of the sympathetic impact on both the coronary arteries and blood pressure control.

We look forward to welcoming you all to MECSMD 2025!

Ronney Shantouf

Symposium Co-Chair ME-CSMD

Consultant Cardiologist

Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute

Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi

UAE

Ashraf Al Azzoni

Symposium Co-Chair ME-CSMD

Consultant Cardiologist

Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute

Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi

UAE