New! Sign up for our free email newsletter.
Science News
from research organizations

Heart disease without coronary plaque buildup linked to heart attack risk

Date:
June 4, 2014
Source:
American Heart Association
Summary:
Non-obstructive coronary artery disease was associated with a 28 to 44 percent increased risk of a major adverse cardiac event such as a heart attack or death. The possible cause is that the non-obstructive plaques can still rupture and cause heart attacks. Providers and patients should take note of non-obstructive CAD and consider lifestyle changes and medications that could help prevent it from causing future adverse cardiac events such as heart attacks.
Share:
FULL STORY

Non-obstructive coronary artery disease was associated with a 28 to 44 percent increased risk of a major adverse cardiac event such as a heart attack or death, in a new study presented at the American Heart Association's Quality of Care and Outcomes Research 2014 Scientific Sessions.

Non-obstructive CAD damages the walls of the heart's blood vessels, but doesn't result in decreased blood flow or symptoms so it's generally been considered to be a low-risk condition.

In this study, researchers studied 40,872 veterans who underwent elective cardiac angiography from October 2007 to September 2012. The patients' condition was categorized as normal, non-obstructive and obstructive CAD. The rates of heart attack and death within one year following angiography increased progressively with increasing CAD severity, even among those patients with non-obstructive CAD, researchers found.

"Unlike obstructive CAD, which blocks blood flow, non-obstructive CAD may initially appear less threatening on angiography tests since it doesn't result in decreased blood flow, but it appears to have significant risk for heart attack and death" said Thomas M. Maddox, M.D., M.Sc., the study's lead researcher, a cardiologist for the VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System and associate professor of medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver. "Dismissing non-obstructive CAD as harmless could be dangerous. Our findings show there is indeed a risk, that non-obstructive damage can lead to heart attacks just like obstructive disease, and that we should consider preventive therapies for these patients."

Patients with non-obstructive disease should ask their physicians about preventative therapies, like quitting smoking, healthy diets, getting enough exercise, losing weight and taking preventative medications such as aspirin and statins.


Story Source:

Materials provided by American Heart Association. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Cite This Page:

American Heart Association. "Heart disease without coronary plaque buildup linked to heart attack risk." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 4 June 2014. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/06/140604105429.htm>.
American Heart Association. (2014, June 4). Heart disease without coronary plaque buildup linked to heart attack risk. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 28, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/06/140604105429.htm
American Heart Association. "Heart disease without coronary plaque buildup linked to heart attack risk." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/06/140604105429.htm (accessed March 28, 2024).

Explore More

from ScienceDaily

RELATED STORIES