Unstable Angina

nstable angina is a clinical syndrome, analogous to hypertension; it is not a specific disease, such as pneumococcal pneumonia. Unstable angina is commonly classified by use of simple clinical descriptors, such as the presence or absence of ischemic chest discomfort at rest, as well as ECG changes and biochemical markers of myocardial injury during and after ischemic episodes. 1 Although these clinical descriptors are helpful in estimating prognosis and are used widely in determining the intensity of treatment, they provide little information regarding the cause of the syndrome.