After the brain, the heart is the most important organ in the human body. The heart is responsible for the vital activity of all systems and organs, therefore any inadequate work of them creates an additional burden on this vital organ. Ischemic heart disease is a chronic disease caused by insufficient supply of oxygen through the coronary arteries to the heart muscle. The history of coronary heart disease is the narrowing of the patency of the coronary arteries due to atherosclerosis. It can have a chronic and acute course, manifesting in heart diseases such as cardiac arrhythmia, myocardial infarction, angina pectoris and sudden death.
During physical or mental stress, as well as at times of high blood pressure, when the heart is under increased stress, requiring the consumption of more oxygen, myocardial ischemia occurs. The patient at such moments experiences pressing, squeezing pain behind the sternum, slightly radiating to the left side. An attack of angina usually resolves immediately after consumption.nitroglycerin. If such a history of coronary artery disease with an acute attack of angina pectoris drags on for more than half an hour, a serious threat to life arises.
Depending on the degree of oxygen starvation of the heart, its causes and duration, there are several forms of cardiac ischemia:
- Asymptomatic ischemia goes unnoticed by the patient and does not cause complaints on his part.
- During physical exertion or stress, with manifestations of frequent shortness of breath and pain behind the sternum, a chronic history of coronary artery disease develops - exertional angina.
- Unstable angina refers to any attack of angina that is stronger than previous attacks accompanied by new symptoms. Such attacks are evidence of a complication of the course of the disease and are the first harbingers of myocardial infarction.
- A characteristic sign of the arrhythmic form of cardiac ischemia is a violation of its rhythm, manifested in atrial fibrillation.
- Myocardial infarction is the partial death of the heart muscle. Most often, a history of coronary artery disease leading to myocardial infarction is the result of plaque rupture from the inner wall of the coronary artery or the occurrence of a blood clot that blocks the arterial patency.
- Sudden death of the heart, expressed in its abrupt stop, is the result of significantly less blood flow to its muscle due to complete blockage of a large artery.
All typesthe course of ischemia can be combined and affect the further course of the disease. For example, the history of coronary artery disease is angina pectoris, often accompanied by arrhythmia, and then turning into a myocardial infarction and so on, up to sudden death. The death of a section of the heart muscle can occur at any stage of the course of the disease, which are distinguished by four types:
- The asymptomatic stage occurs in the process of deposition of cholesterol on the walls of the arteries.
- The stage of appearance of the first signs is expressed in high blood pressure, high sugar and cholesterol levels in the blood. At this interval of the course of the disease, cholesterol plaques can block up to 50% of arterial patency.
- The history of coronary artery disease, characterized by an increase in symptoms, manifests itself in frequent shortness of breath, interruptions in cardiac activity and constricting pain behind the sternum. At this point, an ultrasound of the heart shows expansion of the heart cavities and thinning of the heart muscle.
- The last stage is expressed in prolonged heart failure, increased blood pressure, the appearance of edema, atrial fibrillation and a sharp deterioration in heart function. Pain behind the sternum at this stage appears at the slightest load.
Myocardial infarction is not always fatal, there are cases when patients endured it on their feet. But it should be remembered that a heart attack inevitably leads to an acceleration of the development of coronary disease.
