Unstable angina is a sign of more severe heart disease.

How well you do depends on many different things, including:

• How many and which arteries in your heart are blocked, and how severe the blockage is
• Whether you have ever had a heart attack
• How well your heart muscle is able to pump blood out to your body

Abnormal heart rhythms and heart attacks can cause sudden death.

Unstable angina may lead to:

• Abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias)
• A heart attack
• Heart failure

Seek medical attention if you have new, unexplained chest pain or pressure. If you have had angina before, call your doctor.

Call 911 if your angina pain:

• Is not better 5 minutes after you take nitroglycerin
• Does not go away after three doses of nitroglycerin
• Is getting worse
• Returns after the nitroglycerin helped at first

Call your doctor if:

• You are having angina symptoms more often
• You are having angina when you are sitting (rest angina)
• You are feeling tired more often
• You are feeling faint or light-headed, or you pass out
• Your heart is beating very slowly (less than 60 beats a minute) or very fast (more than 120 beats a minute), or it is not steady
• You are having trouble taking your heart medicines
• You have any other unusual symptoms

If you think you are having a heart attack, get medical treatment right away.

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Review Date: 05/23/2011
Reviewed By: Michael A. Chen, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Harborview Medical Center, University of Washington Medical School, Seattle, Washington. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)