NYU Langone’s spontaneous coronary artery dissection registry, also called the SCAD registry, helps investigators gather data and discover new treatments for this rare cause of heart attacks. “Typical” heart attacks are due to cholesterol plaques and blood clotting in the arteries of the heart. This is commonly known as atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries. However, SCAD is caused by a tear in the wall of the artery and blood accumulation in that wall. This buildup of blood, called intramural hematoma, can compress the artery and limit blood flow to the heart muscle, causing pain and damage.

What Treatments Are Available for SCAD?

Because the cause of SCAD is different from “typical” heart attacks, the best treatments may also be different. At NYU Langone, our investigators aim to learn more about SCAD so we can determine how to develop effective treatments.

Join Our Registry

Our team of researchers, led by Harmony R. Reynolds, MD, has created a registry to learn from patients who have had a SCAD event. The registry allows us to gather information about patients’ medical histories so we can better understand SCAD. We will also use the registry to inform patients about potential research opportunities.

If you have been given a SCAD diagnosis, and you are over 21 years of age, we invite you to join our SCAD registry.

By answering a set of questionnaires about your medical history, current health, and lifestyle, you help our researchers broaden their understanding of the condition and accelerate the discovery of treatments.

Each questionnaire takes just a few minutes to complete, and you don’t have to finish them all in one sitting—you can stop and start whenever you like.

We also ask you to complete some online medical questionnaires. This only takes a few minutes.

Additional research opportunities will be made available to people who take part in our registry, depending on eligibility and your interest. You will learn about any such studies separately if you are eligible.

For most people, participation takes less than two hours of your time per year. Our hope is that you complete the questionnaires twice a year, and help us understand how people with SCAD are doing and what the highest priorities are for your health.

Contact Us

To learn more about our registry, email us at scadtrial@nyulangone.org.