Last Updated on February 10, 2025 by Analgesia team
Unstable Angina Medical Term
Unstable angina is a medical condition that occurs when the heart muscle doesn’t receive enough oxygen and blood flow. It’s a type of chest pain that can lead to a heart attack and requires immediate medical attention.
Symptoms include:
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- Chest pain: Pain that feels like squeezing, tightness, burning, crushing, aching, or choking. It can feel like pressure or a dull ache.
- Pain that lasts longer than 20 minutes: Pain that persists or comes and goes.
- Pain that worsens: Pain that increases in severity.
- Pain that occurs at rest: Pain that happens when you’re not exerting yourself, like while sleeping or sitting quietly.
- Pain that doesn’t respond to medicine: Pain that doesn’t improve with rest or medication, like nitroglycerin.
- Pain that spreads: Pain that radiates to the arm, jaw, back, neck, shoulders, or stomach.
- Shortness of breath: Difficulty breathing.
- Sweating: Excessive sweating.
- Anxiety: Feeling anxious.
- Dizziness: Feeling dizzy.
- Nausea and vomiting: Feeling sick to your stomach or vomiting.
- Fatigue: Feeling tired
Causes of Unstable Angina
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Atherosclerosis
A buildup of plaque in the arteries that narrows and stiffens them. This can lead to blood clots that block the artery.
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Coronary artery spasms
The muscles in the heart’s arteries tighten, temporarily narrowing the arteries and blocking blood flow.
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Microvascular dysfunctionDamage to the small arteries that branch off the larger coronary arteries. This can prevent the arteries from expanding when the heart needs more oxygen.Blood clots
A blood clot can block an artery, especially if the artery has plaque buildup.
Unstable angina is caused by a number of conditions that reduce blood flow to the heart, including:
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Other risk factors for unstable angina include:
- Diabetes
- High blood pressure
- High cholesterol
- Smoking
- Substance abuse
- Family history
- Chronic kidney disease
- Anemia
Treatments for unstable angina includes
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Unstable angina is treated with medications, lifestyle changes, and sometimes surgery. The goal of treatment is to reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke.
Medications
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- Nitroglycerin: Can be taken under the tongue or through an IV
- Blood thinners: Such as heparin, enoxaparin, or clopidogrel
- Beta blockers: Such as propranolol or atenolol, these drugs reduce the force and rate of your heartbeat
- Cholesterol-lowering medications: Such as statins or PCSK9 inhibitors
- Anti-anginal medications: Such as nitrates
- Medications to control blood pressure: Such as antihypertensives
- Medications to control anxiety: Such as anxiolytics
- Medications to control abnormal heart rhythms: Such as antiarrhythmics
Lifestyle changes
- Eat nutritious food
- Get regular physical activity
- Avoid tobacco products
- Manage conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol
Surgery
- Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) may be recommended if you have a high risk of another angina attack or heart attack
Other therapies
- Enhanced external counter pulsation (EECP) therapy may be recommended if other treatments don’t work
Other types of heart attacks include:
- Non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI): A heart attack where there is some loss of blood supply, but the ECG doesn’t show the same changes as a STEMI.
- ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI): A heart attack that occurs when a coronary artery that supplies blood to the heart is completely blocked, causing a long interruption to blood flow and potentially extensive heart damage
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