Angina pectoris

Chest pain that is typically severe and crushing with a feeling just behind the breastbone (the sternum) of pressure and suffocation, due to an inadequate supply of oxygen to the heart muscle. The term “angina pectoris” comes from the Latin “angere” meaning “to choke or throttle” + “pectus” meaning “chest”. Angina pectoris was first described by the English physician William Heberden (1710-1801) and may be

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angina pec·to·ris -'pek-t(ə-)rəs n a disease marked by brief paroxysmal attacks of chest pain precipitated by deficient oxygenation of the heart muscles see UNSTABLE ANGINA compare CORONARY INSUFFICIENCY, heart attack, HEART FAILURE (1)

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pain in the centre of the chest, which is induced by exercise and relieved by rest and may spread to the jaws and arms. Angina pectoris occurs when the demand for blood by the heart exceeds the supply of the coronary arteries and it usually results from coronary artery atheroma. It may be prevented or relieved by such drugs as glyceryl trinitrate and propranolol. If drug treatment proves ineffective, coronary angioplasty or coronary bypass graft may be required, the former being less invasive than the latter.

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a paroxysmal thoracic pain, often radiating to the arms, particularly the left, sometimes accompanied by a feeling of suffocation and impending death; it is most often due to ischemia of the myocardium and precipitated by effort or excitement. It is subdivided into stable and unstable a. pectoris. Called also a. cordis, angor pectoris, Heberden disease, and Rougnon-Heberden disease.