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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staffAngina is a type of chest pain or discomfort caused by reduced blood flow to the heart muscle. Angina (an-JI-nuh or AN-juh-nuh) is a symptom of coronary artery disease. When you have coronary artery disease, your heart muscle doesn't get enough oxygen-rich blood. This lack of blood flow may cause chest pain. Angina is typically described as squeezing, pressure, heaviness, tightness or pain in your chest. Many people with angina say it feels like someone is standing on their chest.
Angina, also called angina pectoris ("pectoris" means chest), may be stable or unstable:
- Stable angina (persistent, recurring chest pain that usually occurs with exertion)
- Unstable angina (sudden, new chest pain — or a change in the pattern of previously stable angina — that may signal an impending heart attack)
A third, a rare type of angina called variant angina (also called Prinzmetal's angina) is caused by a coronary artery spasm.
Angina is relatively common, but can be hard to distinguish from other types of chest pain, such as the pain or discomfort of indigestion. If you have unexplained chest pain, seek medical attention right away.
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- Barbara Woodward Lips Patient Education Center. Steps to heart health: Angina and heart attack. Rochester, Minn.: Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research; 2006.
- ACC/AHA management of patients with unstable angina/non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction - Pocket guideline. American College of Cardiology and the American heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org/downloadable/heart/1194979355638UA-NSTEMI.Text.Final.pdf. Accessed May 21, 2009.
- Patient information sheet: Ranolazine. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. http://www.fda.gov/Cder/drug/InfoSheets/patient/ranolazine.pdf. Accessed May 21, 2009.
- L-arginine. Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database. http://www.naturaldatabase.com. Accessed May 21, 2009.
- Ruel M, et al. Concomitant treatment with oral L-arginine improves the efficacy of surgical angiogenesis in patients with severe diffuse coronary artery disease: The Endothelial Modulation in Angiogenic Therapy randomized controlled trial. Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. 2008;135:762.
- L-carnitine. Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database. http://www.naturaldatabase.com. Accessed May 21, 2009.
- Ferrari R, et al. Therapeutic effects of l-carnitine and propionyl-l-carnitine on cardiovascular diseases: A review. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 2004;1033:79.
