People who died from Coronary Thrombosis/Occlusion

Thrombosis (from Ancient Greek θρόμβωσις thrómbōsis "clotting”) is the formation of a blood clot inside a blood vessel, obstructing the flow of blood through the circulatory system.

Coronary occlusion, also called coronary thrombosis, is an obstruction or blockage within a coronary artery that hinders blood flow to some part of the heart muscle.

• The coronary arteries supply the heart muscle with blood, oxygen and nutrients.
• Thrombosis of coronary arteries occurs when the opening, or lumen, of the artery becomes so small that the blood flow through the narrowed segment slows, allowing a blood to clot in the artery to form. Thrombosis of a coronary artery can lead to a heart attack if not treated.
• The blood clot restricts blood flow to the heart muscle.
  • It may be associated with narrowing of blood vessels due to arteriosclerosis or atherosclerosis, subsequent to clotting.
    • This is when there is buildup of cholesterol and fats in the artery walls. The blood will clot because there is not enough room for it to flow.
  • The condition is considered a type of ischemic heart disease.
• A coronary occlusion, or thrombosis, can occur when a blood clot causes a partial or complete blockage or obstruction of blood flow in one or more coronary artery.
  • A complete blockage in a coronary artery is called a total coronary occlusion.
    • If it is more than three months old, it is called a chronic total occlusion
    • People experiencing this blockage in the arteries caused by coronary occlusions will typically experience the symptoms of a heart attack immediately.

The terms coronary occlusion, coronary thrombosis and cardiac or myocardial infarction are often employed as synonyms, although there are useful differences in their meanings.

• Coronary thrombosis or occlusion refers to the blocking of blood vessels and refers to a special type of coronary occlusion in which thrombosis is the final event in the process of occlusion.
• Myocardial infarction, refers to the tissue death due to the consequent loss of blood flow to the heart tissue. Although it is frequently a result of acute coronary occlusion, it does not always follow it as it depends on which vessel(s) are involved as the heart contains many connecting blood vessels.
  • Coronary thrombosis is a condition that leads to heart attack, however, not the heart attack that occurs after a blood clot developing in the arteries.
  • The infarction may cause no symptoms.
• When one or more of the coronary arteries suddenly becomes completely blocked, a heart attack (injury to the heart muscle) may occur.
• If the blockage occurs more slowly, the heart muscle may develop small collateral blood vessels (or detours) for other coronary arteries to reroute the blood flow, and angina occurs.
• When there is a partial occlusion, the blood flow becomes insufficient. Thus when the heart tries to work harder to speed up the supply of oxygen carried in the blood to the heart muscle, (i.e. with exercise), it is unable to do so and the patient experiences chest pain (angina).

The main causes of coronary thrombosis are: high LDL cholesterol, smoking, sedentary lifestyle, and hypertension.

Symptoms are: sharp pains around the chest area, breathing difficulties, dizziness, and fainting.

According to the Center for Disease Control, over 700,000 people have a heart attack each year. Of that number, about 15% of people will experience a fatal heart attack.

Acute coronary thrombosis does not play a major role in the causation of sudden unexpected death due to coronary artery disease. In a study of 500 consecutive autopsies of individuals aged 20-99 years, dying suddenly and unexpectedly of coronary artery disease, only 67 (13.4%) showed an acute thrombosis. In contrast, studies of hospitalized patients with acute transmural infarction of the myocardium showed a rate of coronary artery occlusion > 80%. From: NCBI (Am J Forensic Med Pathol. Dec 1993) - Incidence of coronary thrombosis in sudden death due to coronary artery disease. By Di Maio DJ.

Notable victims

1. Wikipedia - List of deaths from coronary thrombosis (21 listed; DOD from 1882-2008)

• Sir Ernest Henry Schaleton
• Laurette Taylor (United States)
• Emilio Aguinaldo (1869-1964) (Philippines)
• James K. Baxter (New Zealand)
• Abel Bonnard (Spain)
• Lionel Conacher (Canada)
• Calvin Coolidge(United States)
• Charles Darwin (1809-1882) (United Kingdom)
• Clark Gable (1901-1960) (United States)
• John Garfield[5] (United States)
• King George VI (1895-1952) (United Kingdom)
• John Hay (United States)
• Mark Hellinger (United States)
• Benny Hill (1924-1992) (United Kingdom)
• Arthur Honegger (Switzerland)
• Little Walter (United States)
• L. M. Montgomery (Canada)
• Gamal Abdel Nasser[8](Egypt)
• Alla Nazimova[9] (Russia)
• Jawaharlal Nehru(freedom fighter) India
• Lady Dai (China)
• Barbara Pepper (United States)
• Theodore Roosevelt[10] (United States)
• Nino Rota (Italy)
• Tim Russert[11] (United States)
• Cory Smoot[12] (United States)
• Nikola Tesla[13] (Serbia)
• Gregg Toland (United States)
• O. P. Van Sweringen (United States)
• Ralph Vaughan Williams[14] (United Kingdom)
• Wendell Willkie (United States)
• Florence Ballard (United States)
• Gene Lockhart (Canada)
• Wilfred Thomason Grenfell (United Kingdom)
• Stieg Larsson (Sweden)
• Ernst Lubitsch (Germany)
• Anne Sullivan (United States)
• Dwight Frye [15] (United States)

Resources & Additional Reading:

• Wikipedia - Thrombosis
• Wikipedia - Coronary thrombosis
• Planet drugs direct - Coronary Thrombosis -- Causes, Symptoms & Treatment. 10 Mar 2014
• Wikipedia - Coronary occlusion
• Cleveland Clinic - CAD: Total Coronary Occlusions
• BaylorScott & White Heart & Vascular Hospital - Coronary Artery Chronic Total Occlusion
• ScienceDirect - Coronary Artery Thrombosis

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