Coronary Artery / Heart Disease

Coronary artery disease / coronary heart disease is characterized by fatty deposits that gather in the cells lining the wall of a coronary artery and block blood flow.

Fatty deposits (atheroma or plaque) formed gradually and spread over a large divergence of the two main coronary arteries, which sorrounds the heart and provide blood to the heart. Atheroma formation process is called atherosclerosis.

Can atheroma protruding into the artery and causes the arteries to narrow. If atheroma growing part of the atheroma may break and enter into the bloodstream or blood clot may form on the surface of the atheroma.

To be able to contract and pump normally, the heart muscle (myocardium) requeires a supply of oxygen-rich blood from the coronary artery. If a coronary artery blockage gets worse, it could happen ischemia (reduced blood supply) to the heart muscle, causing heart damage.

The main cause of myocardial ischemia is coronary artery disease. The major complication of coronary artery disease are angina and heart attack (myocardial infarction).

Posted in: Heart