Angina

Angina pectoris is chest pain due to ischemia (a lack of blood and hence oxygen supply) to the heart muscle, generally due to obstruction or spasm of the coronary arteries (the heart's blood vessels). Coronary artery disease, the main cause of angina, is due to atherosclerosis of the cardiac arteries. The term derives from the Greek ankhon ("strangling") and the Latin pectus ("chest"), and can therefore be translated as "a strangling feeling in the chest".

Diagnosis

In patients with occasional angina who are not having chest pain, an electrocardiogram (ECG/EKG) is typically normal, unless there have been other cardiac problems in the past. During pain, depression of the ST segment may be observed. To elicit these changes, an exercise ECG test ("treadmill test") may be performed, during which the patient exercises to the point that the pain occurs; if the ECG changes are documented, the test is considered diagnostic for angina. Other alternatives include a thallium scintigram (in patients who cannot exert enough for the purposes of the treadmill tests, e.g. due to asthma or arthritis).

Related Topics:
Electrocardiogram - Exercise ECG test - Asthma - Arthritis

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In patients in whom noninvasive testing is diagnostic, a coronary angiogram is typically performed to identify the nature of the coronary lesion, and whether this would be a candidate for angioplasty, coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) or other treatments.

Related Topics:
Coronary angiogram - Angioplasty - Coronary artery bypass graft

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