Atherosclerotic heart disease occurs when harmful fats are deposited in the wall of the coronary artery, which leads to narrowing of the artery's course and reduced delivery of oxygen and nutrients to the heart. In this article, we will talk about how to diagnose this condition.
Usually the patient complains of pain in his chest when he walks or exerts effort, but the pain goes away when he rests. In this case, there is a high suspicion of hardening of the arteries in the heart. We examine the heart muscle by means of an ECG and an echo test, to see if there are any signs of severe arteriosclerosis, which may be causing weak contraction of the walls of the heart muscle.
If the planning and ecology went well, but there is still doubt, we do a stress test. If the chart shows signs of blockage in the arteries, we send the patient to perform a diagnostic cardiac catheterization to confirm the presence of any blockage.
In some cases, if there is suspicion of atherosclerosis, even though the stress test came out normal, we perform a CT scan of the heart’s arteries. These x-rays show whether there is any blockage in the main arteries or the presence of calcifications in the arterial wall.
