text: explain "coronary steal"? it's a cardiovascular condition...also known as "robin hood efect"..can you explain this to me? a "steal" or "steal syndrome" occurs when, as a result of dilation of the blood vessels or a "short-circuit" (fistula) between two blood vessels, blood is directed toward already well-oxygenated tissue and away from already oxygen-stressed tissue.  when this occurs in the heart, it's called "coronary steal."  in that case, typically there is a blocked coronary artery; a vasodilator is administered and, as a result, oxygen is shunted away from the already oxygen-starved (ischemic) tissue.  however, there can also be subclavian steal, cerebral steal, etc.  a steal is sometimes called "robin hood syndrome," but this should properly be used only to describe an "inverse steal," in which the blood vessels constrict, thus robbing from the (oxygen) rich and giving to the (oxygen) poor.