What Is Variant Angina?
Variant angina, also called Prinzmetal's angina, is a rare form of angina that accounts for only about two percent of angina cases. Variant angina attacks can be fierce and frightening. Learn more about variant angina here.
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Symptoms
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Common variant angina symptoms include chest pain, nausea, light-headedness, breathing problems and heart palpitations. Sufferers frequently feel pain which starts in the chest and spreads to the left arm, jaws and throat.
Occurrence
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Variant angina pain almost always occurs when an individual is resting. The painful attacks typically happen between midnight and 8 A.M.
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Cause
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Variant angina is caused by a coronary artery spasm. A majority of variant angina sufferers have severe coronary blockage, and the spasm typically occurs near the blockage.
Diagnosis
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Physicians typically diagnose variant angina with an electrocardiogram (ECG), which records cardiac patterns, and a coronary angiogram, which uses an x-ray to create images of arteries.
Treatment
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Variant angina is usually treated with calcium channel blockers and nitrates. Severe blockages might require an angioplasty procedure.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Creative Commons photo by nackrufs
