Atherosclerosis history and symptoms
|
Atherosclerosis Microchapters |
|
Diagnosis |
|---|
|
Treatment |
|
ACC/AHA Guideline Recommendations |
|
Case Studies |
|
Atherosclerosis history and symptoms On the Web |
|
American Roentgen Ray Society Images of Atherosclerosis history and symptoms |
|
Risk calculators and risk factors for Atherosclerosis history and symptoms |
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Overview
According to United States data for the year 2004, for about 65% of men and 47% of women, the first symptom of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease is heart attack or sudden cardiac death (death within one hour of onset of the symptom).
History and Symptoms
Atherosclerosis typically begins in early adolescence, and is usually found in most major arteries, yet is asymptomatic and not detected by most diagnostic methods during life. Autopsies of healthy young men who died during the Korean and Vietnam Wars showed evidence of the disease. It most commonly becomes seriously symptomatic when interfering with the coronary circulation supplying the heart or cerebral circulation supplying the brain, and is considered the most important underlying cause of strokes, heart attacks, various heart diseases including congestive heart failure and most cardiovascular diseases in general. Atheroma in arm or more often leg arteries and producing decreased blood flow is called Peripheral artery occlusive disease (PAOD).
Most artery flow disrupting events occur at locations with less than 50% lumen narrowing (~20% stenosis is average. [The reader might reflect that the illustration above, like most illustrations of arterial disease, over emphasizes lumen narrowing as opposed to compensatory external diameter enlargement (at least within smaller, e.g. heart arteries) typical of the atherosclerosis process as it progresses, see Reference 1, Glagov S, below and the | ASTEROID trial, the IVUS photographs on page 8, as examples for a more accurate understanding.] The relative geometry error within the illustration is common to many older illustrations, an error slowly being more commonly recognized within the last decade.