Question

A patient is admitted to the acute care facility with chest pain. The patient was awakened from sleep; this was the patient's first experience with chest pain. The patient was given two nitroglycerin tablets in the emergency department. The chest pain was not relieved, resulting in the diagnosis of new onset unstable angina. Serial CPK was normal. Following a left cardiac catheterization with angiogram of multiple coronary arteries with low osmolar contrast, the patient is found to have arteriosclerotic coronary artery disease. What is the diagnosis of the patient?

1) Myocardial infarction
2) Unstable angina
3) Stable angina
4) Coronary artery disease

Answer 1

The patient with chest pain at rest not relieved by nitroglycerin and diagnosed with arteriosclerotic coronary artery disease has the correct diagnosis of unstable angina.

Step-by-step explanation:

The patient described has been diagnosed with new onset unstable angina and is found to have arteriosclerotic coronary artery disease (CAD). Considering the symptoms and the findings, the correct diagnosis for the patient is unstable angina. This is due to the patient experiencing chest pain at rest which was not relieved by nitroglycerin, indicating that the coronary arteries' ability to supply the heart with blood and oxygen is compromised at times of low demand, which is characteristic of unstable angina.