Unstable angina

Alternative Names

Symptoms

Symptoms include:

• Sudden chest pain that may also be felt in the shoulder, arm, jaw, neck, back, or other area
• Pain that feels like tightness, squeezing, crushing, burning, choking, or aching
• Pain that occurs at rest and does not easily go away when using medicine

If you have stable angina, and the chest pain starts to feel different, lasts longer than 15 - 20 minutes, or occurs at different times, you may be developing unstable angina.

Exams and Tests

The doctor will perform a physical examination and check your blood pressure. The doctor may hear abnormal sounds, such as a heart murmur or irregular heart beat, when listening to your chest with a stethoscope.

Tests to diagnose angina include:

• Blood tests to check the levels of creatine phosphokinase (CPK), myoglobin, and troponin I and T
• Coronary angiography
• ECG
• Echocardiography
• Stress tests

References

Boden WE, O'rourke RA, Teo KK, et al. Optimal Medical Therapy with or without PCI for Stable Coronary Disease. N Engl J Med. 2007 Mar 26; [Epub ahead of print].

Braunwald E, Antman EM, Beasley JW, et al. ACC/AHA Guideline Update for the Management of Patients With Unstable Angina and Non–ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction -- 2002: Summary Article: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines (Committee on the Management of Patients With Unstable Angina). Circulation. 2002;106:1893