Coronary artery disease in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting at a Cardiology Hospital in Paraíba

Abstract

The myocardium is a muscle with a high demand for oxygen and nutrients, and the coronary arteries are responsible for this supply (MOORE et al., 2018). There is a large coronary reserve for myocardial irrigation (PEGO-FERNANDES et al., 2008).

The right and left coronary arteries originate from the right and left coronary sinuses from the aortic artery. The right coronary artery (RCA) is the vessel that supplies the free wall of the right ventricle and the right atrium. The left coronary artery (ACE) provides the anterior descending artery, which will irrigate part of the left ventricle and the anterior portion of the interventricular septum, and the circumflex artery, which will irrigate the other part of the left ventricle and the left margin of the heart (MOORE et al., 2018).

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) represent one of the leading causes of global mortality and morbidity. An estimated 17.9 million people died from CVD in 2016, accounting for 31% of all global deaths. Of these deaths, 85% are due to heart attacks and strokes (PAHO, 2016). Of these deaths, about 7.4 million were due to coronary artery disease (CAD), considered the leading single cause of death in the world (WHO, 2016).

In Brazil, cardiovascular diseases follow a similar pattern, being the leading cause of death (MANSUR; FAVARATO, 2012; MUNIZ et al., 2012), and according to data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2017 study, the most comprehensive observational epidemiological study worldwide to date, the total prevalence of Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) was 1.75% in Brazilians > 20 years of age (GBD, 2017).

CAD is characterized by insufficient blood supply to the myocardium to the coronary arteries. It is directly related to the degree of obstruction of blood flow by atherosclerotic plaques, resulting in narrowing of the coronary arteries, decreasing the arrival of oxygen to the heart (WHO, 2016). The mechanisms involved in the cause of atherosclerotic disease are complex and involve several risk factors (SILVEIRA et al., 2018).

The clinical picture of coronary atherosclerotic obstruction is broad and the symptoms are quite diverse. This disease can be classified, in a simplified way, into acute and chronic coronary insufficiency, and in both forms the lack of blood to the myocardium is the cause of the disease. The treatment of coronary insufficiency can be clinical, through medications and changes in lifestyle habits, or surgical, through more invasive interventions of myocardial revascularization (GOLDMAN, 2005).

All modalities of myocardial revascularization have as their main objective the reestablishment of adequate blood supply to the myocardium and, for this, they will intervene on the coronary system of conduction to the myocardium (SOUZA et al., 1996).

This study aims to identify the prevalence of patients with CAD undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting in a cardiology hospital in Paraíba, Brazil.

DOI:https://doi.org/10.56238/sevenIVmulti2023-151