Unstable angina is a condition in which your heart doesn't get enough blood flow and oxygen. It is a prelude to a heart attack. Most people experience a feeling of chest discomfort or shortness of breath.
Coronary artery disease due to atherosclerosis is by far the most common cause of unstable angina. Atherosclerosis is the buildup of fatty material called plaque along the walls of the arteries. This causes arteries to become less flexible and narrow, which interrupts blood flow to the heart, causing chest pain.
At first, angina may be considered stable. The chest pain only occurs with activity or stress. The pain does not change much in frequency or severity over time. Unstable angina is chest pain that is sudden and gets increasingly worse. The chest pain:
Occurs without cause (for example, it wakes you up from sleep)
Sudden chest pain that may also be felt in the shoulder, arm, jaw, neck, back, or other area
Pain that feels like tightness, squeezing, crushing, burning, choking, or aching
Pain that occurs at rest and does not easily go away when using medicine
If you have stable angina, you may be developing unstable angina if the chest pain:
Starts to feel different
Lasts longer than 15 - 20 minutes
Occurs at different times
Signs and tests
The doctor will perform a physical examination and check your blood pressure. The doctor may hear abnormal sounds, such as a heart murmur or irregular heartbeat, when listening to your chest with a stethoscope.
Tests to diagnose angina include:
Blood tests to check the levels of creatine phosphokinase (CPK), myoglobin, and troponin I and T (markers of heart muscle injury)
Stable angina (2 images)(Doctor-Reviewed information)
Stable angina is chest pain or discomfort that typically occurs with activity or stress. The pain usually begins slowly and gets worse over the next few minutes before going away. Reviewer: Alan Berger, MD, Assistant Professor, Divisions of Cardiology and Epidemiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.Date: 04/23/2009
Angina (2 images)(Doctor-Reviewed information)
Angina is a type of chest discomfort caused by poor blood flow through the blood vessels(coronary vessels) of the heart muscle(myocardium).Reviewer: Alan Berger, MD, Assistant Professor, Divisions of Cardiology and Epidemiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.Date: 05/15/2008
Coronary artery spasm (3 images)(Doctor-Reviewed information)
Coronary artery spasm is a temporary, sudden narrowing of one of the coronary arteries(the arteries that supply blood to the heart). The spasm slows or stops blood flow through the artery and starves part of the heart of oxygen-rich blood.Variant ...Reviewer: Larry A. Weinrauch, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, and Private practice specializing in Cardiovascular Disease, Watertown, MA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc. Date: 04/28/2009
Chest pain
Average Rating:
(Doctor-Reviewed information)
Chest pain is discomfort or pain that you feel anywhere along the front of your body between your neck and upper abdomen.Many people with chest pain fear a heart attack. However, there are many possible causes of chest pain. Reviewer: Robert Hurd, MD, Professor of Endocrinology, Department of Biology, Xavier University, Cincinnati, OH, and physician in the Primary Care Clinic, Cincinnati Veterans Administration Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.Date: 04/29/2008
Coronary heart disease (6 images)(Doctor-Reviewed information)
Coronary heart disease(CHD) is a narrowing of the small blood vessels that supply blood and oxygen to the heart. CHD is also called coronary artery disease.Coronary artery disease; Arteriosclerotic heart disease; CHD; CAD.Coronary heart disease is...Reviewer: Steven Kang, MD, Division of Cardiac Pacing and Electrophysiology, East Bay Arrhythmia, Cardiovascular Consultants Medical Group, Oakland, CA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.Date: 04/23/2009
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