Micrograph of a<unk><unk>  with the most common form of<unk>  (atherosclerosis) and marked luminal narrowing. Masson's trichrome. Illustration depicting<unk>  Limitation of blood flow to the heart causes ischemia (cell starvation secondary to a lack of oxygen) of the heart's muscle cells. The heart's muscle cells may die from lack of oxygen and this is called a myocardial infarction (commonly referred to as a heart attack). It leads to damage, death, and eventual scarring of the heart muscle without regrowth of heart muscle cells. Chronic high-grade narrowing of the<unk> <unk> es can induce transient ischemia which leads to the induction of a ventricular arrhythmia, which may terminate into a dangerous heart rhythm known as ventricular fibrillation, which often leads to death. Typically,<unk>  occurs when part of the smooth, elastic lining inside a<unk><unk>  (the<unk> es that supply blood to the heart muscle) develops atherosclerosis. With atherosclerosis, the<unk> 's lining becomes hardened, stiffened, and accumulates deposits of calcium, fatty lipids, and abnormal inflammatory cells – to form a plaque. Calcium phosphate (hydroxyapatite) deposits in the muscular layer of the blood vessels appear to play a significant role in stiffening the<unk> es and inducing the early phase of<unk> <unk> osclerosis. This can be seen in a so-called metastatic mechanism of calciphylaxis as it occurs in chronic kidney disease and hemodialysis. Although these people suffer from kidney dysfunction, almost fifty percent of them die due to<unk> . Plaques can be thought of as large "pimples" that protrude into the channel of an<unk> , causing partial obstruction to blood flow. People with<unk>  might have just one or two plaques, or might have dozens distributed throughout their<unk> <unk> es. A more severe form is chronic total occlusion (CTO) when a<unk><unk>  is completely obstructed for more than 3 months. Cardiac syndrome X is chest pain (angina pectoris) and chest discomfort in people who do not show signs of blockages in the larger<unk> <unk> es of their hearts when an angiogram<unk>  angiogram) is being performed. The exact cause of cardiac syndrome X is unknown. Explanations include microvascular dysfunction or epicardial atherosclerosis. For reasons that are not well understood, women are more likely than men to have it; however, hormones and other risk factors unique to women may play a role.
Coronary artery disease
Dilated cardiomyopathy
Peripheral artery disease
Peptic ulcer disease
Cerebrovascular disease
Diabetes
Hypertensive heart disease
Heart cancer