Coronary Artery Disease

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the most common form of heart disease. CAD and its complications, like arrhythmia, angina pectoris, and heart attack, are the leading causes of death in the United States.

CAD most often results from a condition known as atherosclerosis, which happens when a waxy substance forms inside the arteries that supply blood to your heart. This substance, called plaque, is made of cholesterol, fatty compounds, calcium, and a blood-clotting material called fibrin. Doctors have found that there are 2 kinds of plaque: hard and soft.

If enough hard plaque builds up in an artery that supplies blood to your heart, the blood flow slows or stops. This lack of oxygen-rich blood increases your risk of heart attack.

Sometimes, the narrowed artery is blocked by a blood clot that travels from another part of the body, causing a heart attack. Blood clots may also form at the site of soft or vulnerable plaque, which can rupture and cause a heart attack.

As the heart problem gets worse, the heart grows weaker and is less able to pump oxygen-rich blood to the rest of the body.

Because the heart must work harder, it becomes enlarged (hypertrophied). In time, the extra work simply wears out the heart so it is unable to meet even the smallest pumping demands. Medicines, mechanical devices to assist the heart, and other therapies can sometimes help and even improve a patient's condition. But when those treatments fail, transplantation is the only option.