The full form of CAS in medical term is Coronary artery spasm. A coronary artery spasm is a sudden tightness of the blood arteries that supply your heart muscle with oxygen-rich blood. You frequently get cardiac spasms in the wee morning or late at night. You may experience chest pain due to these spasms, or you might not. The main goals of treatment are to reduce chest discomfort and stop spasms.
A prolonged spasm can cause angina (chest pain) and possibly a heart attack. Coronary artery spasms frequently happen at rest, mainly between midnight and early morning, in contrast to conventional angina, which typically happens with physical exertion.
Prinzmetal’s angina, variant angina, or vasospastic angina are other names for coronary artery spasms.
Many persons with coronary artery spasms may not also have specific heart diseases risk factors like high cholesterol or high blood pressure. However, they frequently smoke. Quitting smoking can lower your danger of coronary artery spasms.
Calcium channel blockers relax the arteries and lessen the spasm. Statins, which lower cholesterol and might even minimize spasms, and nitrates, employed to avoid spasms and fast relieve chest discomfort when they occur, may all be used to deal with coronary artery spasms.