Angina pectoris: what is it and how is this pathology diagnosed

Angina is one of the symptoms of coronary heart disease. What this is, how this pathology is diagnosed, we will discuss in today's article.

How angina develops

Atherosclerotic plaques, deposited on the walls of the coronary vessels, like a scum on a teapot, narrow the lumen and cause a deficiency in the supply of the heart muscle as a result.

If this condition is aggravated, then at the time of the load (physical or emotional), myocardial ischemia may develop, in other words, the inadequacy of supplying the heart with blood. A similar signal about oxygen starvation in medicine is defined as stenocardia. What it is, can be judged by its manifestations.

Unlike infarction, in which blood circulation in the heart is disrupted catastrophically and irreversibly, angina pectoris can restore balance between the need of the heart in oxygen and the amount of incoming blood after the termination of the load. But in case the oxygen deficiency becomes critical, the attack of angina may turn into a heart attack.

Angina pectoris - what is it? Symptoms of the disease

So, angina is a manifestation of the lack of oxygen supply to the heart muscle. The main signs of it are attacks of dyspnea and pain in the heart. By the way, there is no direct connection between the level of oxygen in the blood and the strength of pain, since the nervous system of the patient plays a significant role here.

Angina pectoris - what is it? It manifests itself as a painful sensation, which is difficult to confuse with the sign of another ailment. Patients describe it as burning, pressing or compressing. As a rule, pain is given to the shoulder, arm and jaw, less often - under the collarbone or in the upper abdomen. It causes any stress, even abundant food or going out from a warm room to the street, and very often the accompanying feelings - anxiety or fear.

An equivalent pain symptom of angina pectoris may be shortness of breath. It is often the main sign in the painless course of this pathology or accompanies pain syndrome (which occurs much more often).

Stenocardia classes

There are three types:

• Stable (angina of tension),
• Unstable (pre-infarction),
• Variant (vasospastic) angina pectoris.

Depending on the severity of the pathology, the first of them is divided into functional classes:

• I - rare attacks of retrosternal pain, arising at a heavy load;
• II - seizures arising from the rapid performance of actions in an unfavorable environment (frosty weather, wind) and overeating;
• III - seizures appearing at low loads;
• IV - the inability to perform any work without seizures, their appearance even in a state of rest.

How is the diagnosis made?

The signs listed above can be valuable for the early detection of an ailment and the definition of its severity.

Accurate diagnosis of angina includes ECG readings (under load and at rest) that help determine the presence of ischemia and changes in heart rhythm. A stress test is also used to detect areas with inadequate blood supply, and an angiogram ( coronary artery x-rays ). This is another method of diagnosis, giving the most accurate indicators. Immediately before the test, a contrast agent is injected into the coronary artery by means of a catheter, which helps to see the changes in the vessels.

Now you will understand, after hearing the diagnosis of "angina", that this is a disease in which it requires constant supervision of a specialist and strict observance of all his prescriptions.