Coronary Artery Spasm
Sometimes a coronary artery (one of the vessels supplying blood to the heart muscle) goes into spasm. This is also...
Archives
Coronary Artery Disease
CAD most often results from a condition known as atherosclerosis, which happens when a waxy substance forms inside the arteries...
Coronary Artery Anomalies
A coronary artery anomaly (CAA) may relate to the origin (where the artery “springs up” in the heart) or the...
Vulnerable Plaque
Swelling (inflammation) is your body’s natural reaction to an injury. Inflammation can happen anywhere—on the skin, within the body, and...
Recovering From a Heart Attack
Studies have led to better therapies and more information about the heart after a heart attack or myocardial infarction (MI)....
Aneurysms and Dissections
An aneurysm is a balloon-like bulge in an artery. Aneurysms happen when the artery has a weak spot, and the...
Pulmonary Stenosis
Stenosis means narrowing. Pulmonary stenosis is a narrowing of the valve that lets blood flow from the lower-right chamber (the...
Pulmonary Atresia
The word “atresia” means “no opening.” With pulmonary atresia, the valve that lets blood flow from the lower-right chamber (the...
Ventricular Septal Defect
A septal defect is a hole in the septum, which is the muscle wall that separates the heart’s left and...
Peripheral Vascular Disease
Your peripheral arteries and veins carry blood to and from your arm and leg muscles and the organs in and...
Pericarditis
Pericarditis is inflammation of the pericardium, causing the amount of fluid between the two layers of the pericardium to increase. This increased fluid presses on the heart and restricts its pumping action.
Patent Foramen Ovale
A patent foramen ovale (PFO) means that the foramen ovale stays open after birth. About 1 out of every 3 or 4 people has PFO. Most people with PFO go their whole lives without any symptoms. In fact, PFO is usually discovered only when patients undergo tests for other heart conditions.
