What is coronary artery disease and what are its risk factors?

What is coronary artery disease and what are its risk
factors?
Coronary heart disease (CAD) , in other words
atherosclerosis, is the leading cause of death and disease
worldwide. The disease can develop at any age; In the
presence of many risk factors such as risky genetic
background, smoking, hypertension, diabetes,
hyperlipidemia, sedentary lifestyle, stress, and obesity, the
disease occurs at an early age and progresses more rapidly.
Once CAD develops, it tends to progress and cause problems.
For this reason, combating these risk factors is extremely
important in preventing the emergence of the disease and
slowing down or even stopping the rate of progression of the
disease in those who develop the disease.
What are the Symptoms of Coronary Artery Disease?
Coronary artery patients may not have any complaints before
the stenosis in the vessels reaches a serious level. The most
common symptom of CAD is chest pain. Symptoms often
manifest as pain, burning, and pressure in the left side of the
chest due to exertion or stress. Other symptoms include:
shortness of breath, palpitations, dizziness, and nausea.
How to Diagnose Coronary Artery Disease?
Classical methods used in the diagnosis of the disease are:
Electrocardiography (ECG), Exercise test, Echocardiography,
Myocardial perfusion scintigraphy (Thallium Scintigraphy) and
Coronary angiography.
What is coronary angiography and how is it done?

Coronary angiography (CA) is still the gold standard method
in the evaluation of anatomical coronary artery disease. The
risk of major complications, including death, in coronary
angiography is approximately 2%.
It is used in alternative diagnostic methods such as magnetic
resonance angiography (MRA) and multi-slice computed
tomography (MSCT) in the diagnosis of cardiovascular
diseases. However, today there is still no diagnostic method
that can fully replace coronary angiography.
CA is performed by entering through the groin vein (femoral
artery) or wrist (radial artery) to visualize the heart vessels.
Local anesthesia is applied to the puncture site and a sheath
is placed inside the vein. These procedures are painless. An
opaque substance (dye) is administered to the coronary
vessels through the catheter and a film of the coronary
vessels is taken. After the procedure, the vascular sheath is
removed. Angiography from the groin vein (femoral artery)
requires bed rest for at least 4-6 hours after the procedure.
However, in radial artery angiography, the patient can stand
up after 30 minutes.
What is Coronary Balloon Stent and how is it applied?
Balloon stent procedures are similar to coronary angiography
from the patient's perspective. It is done with local
anesthesia. The patient is awake during the procedure and
usually does not feel pain.
These are procedures performed to open narrowed or
blocked vessels. It can be done immediately following

coronary angiography, or it can be done later in some special
cases, such as in kidney patients.
A balloon placed in the narrowed coronary artery area is
inflated there and generally waited for 30-60 seconds. When
the balloon is deflated, the vessel remains open. A stent is
used to maintain the opening obtained after the balloon
procedure.