Widow maker

For other uses, see Widow maker (disambiguation).

A widow maker is a nickname used to describe a highly stenotic left main coronary artery or proximal left anterior descending coronary artery of the heart.

This term is used because if the artery gets abruptly and completely occluded it will cause a massive heart attack that will likely lead to death. The blockage that kills is made up of platelets streaming to the site of a ruptured cholesterol plaque. Even a small amount of plaque in this area can (for a variety of poorly understood reasons) rupture and cause death; bypassing chronic blockages or trying to open them up with angioplasty does not prevent heart attack but it can restore blood flow in case of a sudden blockage or heart attack. An example of the devastating results of a complete occlusion of the LAD (Left Anterior Descending) artery is the sudden death of newsman Tim Russert.

From the minute a widow maker hits, there is a five-minute window of time to get to a hospital or receive emergency care.