CCFP 105 Topics: Ischemic Disease

    Written By: Christopher Clarke - FM Resident, Victoria BC Review By: Dr Ajay Bains - IM PGY4 - UBC Sound Editing By: Braedon Paul Hosted By: Christopher Clarke & Caleb Dusdal As a brief review, ischemic heart disease or coronary artery disease can be thought of as a spectrum that ranges from stable angina to unstable angina which may progress to myocardial infarction and sudden cardiac death. As we know, stable angina is caused by luminal narrowing of coronary arteries whereas unstable angina is caused by plaque rupture and thrombus formation leading to stenosis. Myocardial infarction results when you have occlusion of the coronary artery leading to ischemia and then infarction of the myocardium. And within that, a STEMI is generallycaused by complete occlusion and a NSTEMI is typically caused by a partial occlusion.