Angina pectoris (angina) is chest pain commonly related to coronary heart disease. You may have this symptom if there is not enough blood flowing to your heart muscle. This may happen when plaque builds up in the arteries, causing blockages and narrowing (ischemia).
The “pain” may feel like fullness, pressure, squeezing, or heaviness, and in women may feel more like nausea, shortness of breath, abdominal pain, or extreme fatigue.
The two main forms of angina are stable angina and unstable angina. With stable angina, the most common form of this symptom, there is a regular pattern of pain with exertion, such as physical activity, and the pain comes and goes quickly, generally within five minutes. Stable angina may also be triggered by emotional stress as well as by extreme temperatures. With unstable angina, the pain occurs even with rest, and often signals that a heart attack is coming.
There is also variant, or Prinzmetal’s angina, a much more rare form caused by spasming in the coronary artery. Microvascular angina, also less common, may last for longer periods of time and the pain is not always relieved by medication.
If you have coronary heart disease, be sure to discuss your symptoms with your doctor, who may prescribe a combination of rest and medication to relieve your angina.
If you are having chest pain that does not go away with rest and medication, call 911 immediately.
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These drugs reduce signs and symptoms of heart failure, improve heart function and help extend patients’ lives.
An electrocardiogram, commonly referred to as an ECG or EKG testing, is a test that records the electrical activity of your heart and can help screen for heart disease.
While walking on a treadmill, your blood pressure, heart rate and breathing will be monitored to see how your heart responds to exercise “stress.”
An echo is an imaging technique using sound waves to take pictures of your heart while it’s beating. It shows how chambers, valves and vessels move together.
The cardiologists and cardiovascular surgeons at Main Line Health work together to improve the detection and prevention of heart disease with the latest treatment options.
Radiography (X-Ray) involves exposing a part of the body to a small dose of invisible, electromagnetic radiation to produce an image of the internal organs.
A blood test can help your doctor assess your body’s response to medication or treatment, identify risk factors for disease and check the function of your internal organs.
Coronary angioplasty is a treatment for atherosclerosis, which you may need if diet and lifestyle changes aren’t enough to improve blood circulation to the heart. Learn more about what to expect during angioplasty and stenting procedure.
Doctors use angiograms to examine blood vessels. Coronary angiogram is the traditional imaging method of the heart and great vessels while cardiac CT is a minimally invasive alternative for certain patients.
Coronary angioplasty is a treatment for atherosclerosis, which you may need if diet and lifestyle changes aren’t enough to improve blood circulation to the heart. Learn more about what to expect during angioplasty and stenting procedure.
This is a diagnostic test involving injecting a contrast dye through a catheter into the arteries that run to the stomach, arms and legs.
To care for patients with multiple blocked vessels, heart bypass surgeons collaborate with interventional cardiologists to offer hybrid approach involves a combination of coronary stent placement and robotic-assisted coronary artery bypass graft (CABG surgery), also known as heart bypass surgery or robotic heart surgery.
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