The term coronary artery disease refers to the narrowing or obstruction of the coronary arteries that supply the heart with blood, due to the accumulation of fatty deposits in the arteries, which reduces blood flow to the heart muscle.
In the case of coronary artery narrowing, which is the main artery that supplies the heart with vital nutrients and oxygen through the blood, the percentage of blood flow necessary for the heart muscle perfusion process decreases, leading to the appearance of symptoms of angina pectoris and shortness of breath.
While total obstruction leads to weakness in supplying the heart muscle with blood and appropriate nutrition, leading to the appearance of heart attack symptoms.
The main causes of coronary artery narrowing disease are the formation of deposits containing cholesterol that accumulate on the walls of the coronary artery, causing artery narrowing. This condition is also called coronary insufficiency, where coronary insufficiency and coronary artery narrowing mean the same health problem, which is the lack of blood flow to the heart muscle.
What is the Coronary Artery?
The coronary artery or coronary arteries are the circulatory system arteries responsible for transporting blood loaded with food and oxygen to the heart muscle. The coronary arteries consist of the left coronary artery and the right coronary artery, and then each of them branches after that.
The left coronary artery arises from the aorta above the left end of the aortic valve, and it is responsible for transporting blood to the left side of the heart. The left coronary artery branches into two arteries.
As for the right coronary artery, it stems from above the right end of the aortic valve, and it helps supply blood to the heart septum and the right side of the heart, which pumps blood to the lungs.
Coronary Artery Symptoms
Symptoms of coronary artery disease appear as a result of coronary artery narrowing. These signs are also known as coronary artery narrowing symptoms, and the symptoms include:
- Angina Pectoris Pain: Feeling sudden tightness in the chest as if someone is pressing on it, as a result of the inability of the narrow coronary arteries to provide sufficient blood to the heart.
- Shortness of Breath and Fatigue: As a result of not reaching a sufficient percentage of blood to meet the body’s demands.
- Heart Rhythm Irregularity: Because the heart muscle does not get a sufficient amount of blood, this leads to a disturbance in the heart’s electrical pulses.
- Heart Attack: As a result of a total coronary artery obstruction, heart attack symptoms appear such as heavy sweating and pain that spreads from the chest toward the shoulder or arm with a feeling of shortness of breath.
Coronary Insufficiency Symptoms
Coronary insufficiency symptoms appear as a result of insufficient perfusion of the heart muscle. Coronary insufficiency symptoms include:
- Pains in the middle of the chest and may extend to the lower jaw and teeth or to the back and shoulder.
- Shortness of breath and extreme exhaustion when making any effort.
- Nausea and heartburn.
- Heart rhythm disturbance.
Professor Dr. Mohamed El-Ghannam, Consultant of Open-Heart Surgery and Minimally Invasive Surgical Intervention, emphasizes that diagnosing coronary insufficiency symptoms in its early stages is the first step for the success of the coronary insufficiency treatment plan. To answer the question: Is coronary insufficiency dangerous?, the doctor confirms that delay in treatment may lead to serious complications reaching a heart attack.
Coronary Artery Obstruction
The body’s arteries are the blood vessels that carry oxygen-rich blood from the heart to the rest of the body parts. The inner walls of healthy arteries are smooth, which helps blood flow through them easily.
In the case of accumulation of deposits on the inner artery walls, these deposits are known as plaques, and they consist of different materials including: calcium, cholesterol, fats, cellular waste, and fibrin.
When these materials accumulate on the inner artery walls, they cause narrowing and hardening of the arteries such as coronary artery narrowing. In some cases, the blood flowing over these deposits clots, causing total obstruction of the artery, and this is also what happens in the case of coronary artery obstruction, and a heart attack occurs. It should be noted that coronary artery explosion or rupture is a different condition from the gradual coronary artery narrowing we are talking about here, as it occurs as a result of a sudden rupture in the artery wall and requires immediate emergency intervention.
There are many risk factors that increase the probability of infection with coronary artery diseases. There are non-modifiable risk factors, which the patient cannot control, such as:
- Age: With advancing age, the risks of infection with artery narrowing increase.
- Gender: Some research indicates that men are more susceptible to infection with coronary artery diseases than women, while the risk percentage increases in women after the menopause period.
- Family History: If one of the person’s parents or grandparents has a medical record or history of heart diseases, that means they will be more susceptible to infection with coronary artery diseases.
There are also some modifiable risk factors, i.e., a person can control them, and they include:
- Smoking: It leads to atherosclerosis and increased thickness.
- High Blood Pressure: It is called the silent killer because it affects the arteries over time if not controlled.
- High Cholesterol Levels in the Blood: This leads to an increase in plaque formation on the arteries, making the person susceptible to the risk of infection with atherosclerosis.
- Diabetes and Obesity: High blood sugar levels as well as excess weight lead to an increase in risk factors. These combined factors are among the most prominent causes of coronary insufficiency and narrowing.
Coronary Artery Obstruction Symptoms
Coronary heart artery obstruction often occurs over years, and at first, the symptoms may pass without the patient noticing them, or they may feel mild symptoms during practicing any physical activity that needs blood to be pumped strongly.
In general, coronary artery obstruction symptoms may differ from one person to another and depend on the severity of the condition. When the obstruction is large, it obstructs blood flow and symptoms begin to appear noticeably, and include:
- Extreme heaviness or pain in the chest, i.e., angina pectoris symptoms. In some cases, the pain may be short and sharp, and can extend to the neck or arm or back.
- Shortness of breath.
- Dizziness and fainting.
- Nausea.
- Lower back pain.
- Coldness of hands and feet.
- Feeling of exhaustion as a result of the heart not getting enough oxygenated blood, making it pump more to cover its needs, so the patient begins to feel tired with effort, and sometimes at rest times.
Coronary Artery Surgery
To answer the question: What is coronary artery treatment and how is coronary artery narrowing treated?, the doctor may initially resort to non-surgical procedures to get rid of coronary artery narrowing by getting rid of deposits in the artery walls and expanding them. These procedures include:
Cardiac Catheterization:
One of the minimally invasive surgical intervention techniques, in which the doctor uses a catheter, which is a thin and long tube. The doctor inserts it through a small incision via an artery in the upper part of the leg or an artery at the wrist joint in the hand.
Then the doctor directs the catheter to the blocked artery and tries to expand the artery using an expansion balloon. He may place a stent at the end of the catheter to maintain the expansion of the artery until it allows re-flowing of blood to the heart again.
Using the catheter, the doctor may also need to perform a heart stent operation, which involves placing the stent, which is a small metal mesh, that works to keep the arteries open, so blood flow improves.
Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery:
In some cases, surgical intervention is necessary to treat severe coronary artery obstruction that does not respond to previous treatments.
Coronary artery bypass surgery aims to create a new path for blood flow instead of the blocked path from the coronary arteries. In most cases, the doctor takes healthy blood vessels from the chest or leg.
Where the doctor creates a new path, by connecting the healthy vessel to the coronary artery above and below the narrow or blocked area to deliver oxygen-rich blood to the heart.
In conclusion, treating coronary artery narrowing disease is one of the diseases that depend on early diagnosis of the disease and setting an appropriate treatment plan to stop the deterioration of the condition.
This matter requires follow-up with a doctor with experience in early diagnosis of cases of narrowing or obstruction of coronary arteries. This is what Professor Dr. Mohamed El-Ghannam, Consultant of Open-Heart Surgery and Minimally Invasive Surgical Intervention, enjoys with a distinguished reputation in the field of heart surgery and diagnosing heart and coronary artery diseases.
Related topics:
Success rate of coronary artery operation
What is coronary artery bypass operation?
