Fraternity-Testvériség, 1960 (38. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1960-03-01 / 3. szám
FRATERNITY 5 WHAT IS A HEART ATTACK? This article is reprinted from the “Washington Heart News”, a magazine published by the Washington Heart Association of which our Medical Director, Dr. Frank S. Horvath, was lately elected as a permanent honorary member “for distinguished services rendered”. ★ ★ ★ Usually when we speak of a heart attack we mean an acute condition that doctors call coronary thrombosis, a sudden blocking of one of the coronary arteries —- the arteries that supply the heart muscle with blood. Although the heart attack itself is sudden, it is the result of a slowly developing disease process (called atherosclerosis) of the coronary arteries. Atherosclerosis Atherosclerosis is responsible for most heart attacks and for the chest pain called angina pectoris. It is a form of arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). In atherosclerosis, the passageway through the arteries becomes roughened and narrowed by fatty deposits that harden into patches along the inner lining of the artery. This process has been compared to the formation of lime deposits in a water pipe. Around these patches, scarlike fibrous tissue forms in the artery wall so that the channel is narrowed and there is less room for the blood to flow through. Coronary Thrombosis Coronary thrombosis is what most people mean by a heart attack. When the artery channel has become narrowed by atherosclerosis, a blood clot may form in the narrowed artery to block the channel and so cut off the flow of blood to the part of the heart supplied by that artery. When a clot (thrombus) cuts off the blood supply to a section of heart muscle, the result is a heart attack — physicians call it a coronary thrombosis or coronary occlusion, or myocardial infarction. The usual symptoms are severe painful sensation of pressure under the breastbone, often lasting for hours (mild attacks are sometimes mistaken for acute indigestion), sudden intense shortness of breath, sweating and loss of consciousness (occasionally). Collateral Circulation Luckily the coronary artery system has a lifesaving method of growth and repair. When some of the coronary arteries become narrowed by gradual development of atherosclerosis so that they cannot carry enough blood to the heart muscle, nearby arteries get wider and even open up tiny new branches to deliver blood to the area of muscle that needs it. This is called collateral circulation.
