Resumen

ALMEIDA GOMEZ, Javier  y  ALVAREZ TOLEDO, Orlando. Physiopathology of the acute coronary syndromes. Rev cubana med [online]. 2006, vol.45, n.3. ISSN 0034-7523.

In the stable chronic angina, the ischemic episodes (anginous or silent) result mainly from a rise of the myocardial demand of oxygen exceeding the capacity of increasing the coronary flow due to a significant stenosis (usually over 70 %) of an epicardial artery, that is, the relation between the offer and the demand of O2 is broken on increasing the myocardial demands in relation to a reduced and relatively fixed offer of coronary flow. On the contrary, in the acute coronary syndromes (unstable angina, acute myocardial infarction and sudden death of ischemic cause) the primary complication is usually an abrupt decrease of the coronary flow secondary to the rupture of an atherosclerotic plaque with the subsequent formation of a thrombus. Taking into account that the acute coronary syndrome is the most severe form of the coronary disease,and that it is a very active research field with therapeutic implications and a changing pathogeny, this article was made to understand better the mechanisms involved in the acute coronary syndrome and to attain a more effective control and treatment.

Palabras clave : Acute coronary syndrome; physiopathology.