Coronary heart disease (CHD)

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a disease in which a waxy substance called plaque builds up inside the coronary arteries. These arteries supply oxygen-rich blood to your heart muscle.

When plaque builds up in the arteries, the condition is called atherosclerosis. The buildup of plaque occurs over many years. If the flow of oxygen-rich blood to your heart muscle is reduced or blocked, chest pain i.e. angina or a heart attack can occur.

A heart attack occurs if the flow of oxygen-rich blood to a section of heart muscle is cut off. If blood flow isn’t restored quickly, the section of heart muscle begins to die. Without quick treatment, a heart attack can lead to serious health problems or death.

The reasons for this are common vascular risk factors. Through timely detection and treatment of risk factors and treatment of coronary heart disease serious events such as heart attack or sudden cardiac death can be prevented. Today an invasive catheterization can often be avoided by modern imaging techniques (computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging).