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".

Unstable angina

Physicians distinguish between stable angina, which occurs during exercise or stress, and is relieved with a nitrate spray or tablet (e.g. amyl nitrate), and unstable angina, which occurs at rest, or is unrelieved by the usual medication. A patient with angina that is increasing in frequency or severity is also said to have unstable angina.

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The pain can be caused by thrombi embolising and blocking of the coronary vessels, not long enough to cause a heart attack, but long enough to cause pain.

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Unstable angina is very predictive of a future heart attack, and requires immediate medical attention.

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