Coronary artery spasm angina

Coronary artery spasm angina is a type of heart disease. Its symptoms include lower abdominal pain and difficulty breathing. In severe cases, it can cause shock in patients. Therefore, it is recommended that patients with coronary heart disease should receive timely treatment. Regarding the causes and symptoms of coronary artery spasm angina, it is recommended that you can understand the following content carefully so that you can better relieve the symptoms of angina.

Coronary artery spasm refers to a transient contraction of the coronary arteries due to various reasons, causing incomplete or complete occlusion of the blood vessels, leading to myocardial ischemia, and producing a clinical syndrome of angina pectoris, arrhythmia, myocardial infarction and sudden death. It has important clinical significance for the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of myocardial ischemic diseases. Patients with frequent attacks, severe symptoms, arrhythmias, atrioventricular block, heart failure, and poor response to nitrate and calcium antagonist treatment have a poor prognosis.

Causes and common diseases

1. Variant angina

Coronary angiography confirmed that the main cause of variant angina is coronary artery spasm. Variant angina is divided into two types: one occurs on the basis of coronary atherosclerosis, and the other occurs in normal coronary arteries.

2. Exertional angina

That is, angina pectoris that occurs during exercise. Coronary angiography confirmed the presence of coronary artery spasm during this type of attack. During labor, myocardial oxygen consumption increases, and an imbalance occurs in the myocardial oxygen supply and demand. Vasospasm further aggravates myocardial ischemia and causes angina pectoris.

3. Unstable angina

This type of angina attack is related to the rapid progression of atherosclerotic lesions. But there is also the factor of coronary artery spasm. Even people with normal coronary arteries may become unstable due to repeated spasms.

4. Acute myocardial infarction

Vascular spasm is prone to occur when coronary artery atherosclerosis occurs. Spasm causes the lumen to go from partial blockage to complete blockage, thus causing myocardial infarction. Myocardial infarction is caused by continuous spasm of normal coronary arteries, which leads to continuous myocardial ischemia. In addition, persistent coronary artery spasm causes blood stasis and vascular endothelial damage, which promotes platelet aggregation and plaque formation, and ultimately leads to thrombus formation and myocardial infarction.

5. Sudden Death

Both those with normal coronary arteries and those with atherosclerotic coronary stenosis can suffer sudden death due to coronary artery spasm. Its mechanism of occurrence is fatal arrhythmias, such as ventricular fibrillation, severe atrioventricular block, ventricular arrest, etc.

6. Other common diseases

(1) Diabetic heart disease in the elderly.

(2) Stable angina pectoris.

(3) Alcoholic cardiomyopathy.

(4) Unstable angina in the elderly.

(5) Asymptomatic myocardial ischemia.