Coronary artery disease due to atherosclerosis is by far the most common cause of unstable angina. Atherosclerosis is the build up 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 -- that is, the chest pain only occurs with activity or stress. 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)
Lasts longer than 15 - 20 minutes
Responds poorly to a medicine called nitroglycerine
May occur along with a drop in blood pressure or significant shortness of breath
A coronary artery spasm is a rare cause of angina.
Risk factors for unstable angina are similar to those for stable angina and coronary artery disease. They include:
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, and the chest pain starts to feel different, lasts longer than 15 - 20 minutes, or occurs at different times, you may be developing unstable angina.
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 heart beat, 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
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. It quickly goes away with medication or rest, but may happen again with additional activity or stress. Stable angina is also called chronic angina. See also: Unstable angina 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.Date: 04/03/2007
Angina (2 images)(Doctor-Reviewed information)
Angina is a specific type of chest discomfort caused by inadequate blood flow through the blood vessels (coronary vessels) of the heart muscle (myocardium.
Related topics: Chest pain; Stable angina; Unstable angina; Variant angina. Reviewer: Fabian Arnaldo, M.D., Department of Cardiology, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, MI. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.Date: 05/30/2006
Coronary artery spasm (3 images)(Doctor-Reviewed information)
Coronary artery spasm is a temporary, abrupt, and focal (restricted to one location) contraction of the muscles in the wall of an artery in the heart, which constricts the artery. This spasm slows or stops blood flow through the artery. Reviewer: Alan Berger, MD, Assistant Professor, Divisions of Cardiology and Epidemiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.Date: 05/30/2006
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. Reviewer: Charlotte Grayson, MD, Private Practice specializing in Internal Medicine, Smyrna, GA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.Date: 05/24/2006
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. Reviewer: Glenn Gandelman, MD, MPH, Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine, New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY, and 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.Date: 03/30/2007
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