What is Myocardial bridge

What is Myocardial Bridge?

Our heart is made of muscle which is called Myocardium and like every organ or tissue it needs oxygen-rich blood to survive.

What is Myocardial Bridge?

It is a band of heart muscle that lies on top of a coronary artery, instead of underneath it. A myocardial bridge is harmless. Patients with a myocardial bridge have it from birth and most even don’t know that they have this condition. However, some patients can develop myocardial ischemia (lack of oxygen) because of a myocardial bridge.

Symptoms

Most of the patients do not have any symptoms, even if their hearts are not getting enough blood supply. Symptoms include,

• Chest pain
• Tightness in the chest
• Heaviness in the chest
• Pain in the left arm or jaw
• Shortness of breath
• Fatigue

Diagnosis

• Cardiac catheterization with angiography to measure the blood flow and blood pressure in the heart chambers and see if the coronary arteries are blocked.
• Exercise stress test to check how the heart performs during exercise.
• Nuclear stress test, it gives information about the size of the heart chambers, how well the heart is pumping blood, and whether the heart has any damaged or dead muscle.

Treatment

In many patients, it is not treated if it is not causing any symptoms. In patients with symptoms, medication is usually the first line of treatment.

In rare cases, surgery is done which involves removing the bridge that is pressing on the coronary artery.