Depression and Anxiety Before and After Cardiac Rehabilitation: Comparing Patients With and Without Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection

It is unclear whether patients with spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) are similarly distressed or derive the same psychologic benefits from participating in cardiac rehabilitation (CR) as patients who had a myocardial infarction (MI) without SCAD. In this matched retro-spective case-control study, the proportion of patients with SCAD reporting elevated anxiety was twice that of their non-SCAD counterparts; CR did not produce significant improvements in anxiety. Depression scores were similar between groups, and improvement was observed with CR participation. Targeted anxiety-based interventions may be needed to improve CR benefits and patient recovery.