{"id":55444,"date":"2022-10-07T18:55:20","date_gmt":"2022-10-07T13:25:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/johnsonfrancis.org\/professional\/?p=55444"},"modified":"2022-10-07T21:00:42","modified_gmt":"2022-10-07T15:30:42","slug":"why-do-they-call-lad-a-widow-maker-cardiology-basics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/johnsonfrancis.org\/professional\/why-do-they-call-lad-a-widow-maker-cardiology-basics\/","title":{"rendered":"Why do they call LAD a widow maker? Cardiology Basics"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/d6kGJ3fG_wI\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #008000;\">Why do they call LAD a widow maker? Cardiology Basics<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>LAD is short form for left anterior descending coronary artery. LAD is usually the largest branch of the left main coronary artery which supplies the major portion of the left ventricle. It supplies major portion of the interventricular septum which mostly constitutes the anterior wall of the left ventricle as seen on echocardiography. Coronary angiogram still picture shows a total occlusion of LAD. Coronary angiograms are obtained by injecting radiocontrast medication into the coronary artery and obtaining continuous X-ray imaging in the cardiac catheterization laboratory.<\/p>\n<p>Occlusion of proximal LAD before its first septal and diagonal branches can cause a large myocardial infarction, which can sometimes be fatal. That is why LAD has been called a widow maker artery. This animation video shows the formation of a thrombus over an atherosclerotic plaque in the LAD.<\/p>\n<p>Here is an echocardiographic video clipping in case of occlusion of LAD producing infarction of the anterior wall of the left ventricle. Hypokinesia means decreased movement of a myocardial segment. Left ventricular myocardium has been divided into 17 segments in echocardiographic terminology. The various segments seen on multiple echocardiographic views have been labelled in the still images. The coronary artery which is involved can be inferred from the myocardial segment which show hypokinesia or other forms of regional wall motion abnormalities.<\/p>\n<p>When the LAD is blocked at its origin, the resulting damage to the myocardium is large so that the pumping function of the left ventricle may fail. It can also alter the heart rhythm abruptly causing cardiac arrest due to ventricular fibrillation. This can lead to sudden death unless prompt cardiopulmonary resuscitation followed electrical defibrillation with a direct current shock from a defibrillator is given.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why do they call LAD a widow maker? Cardiology Basics LAD is short form for left anterior descending coronary artery. LAD is usually the largest branch of the left main coronary artery which supplies the major portion of the left ventricle. It supplies major portion of the interventricular septum which mostly constitutes the anterior wall [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":55445,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Why do they call LAD a widow maker? Cardiology Basics - All About Cardiovascular System and Disorders<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/johnsonfrancis.org\/professional\/why-do-they-call-lad-a-widow-maker-cardiology-basics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why do they call LAD a widow maker? Cardiology Basics - All About Cardiovascular System and Disorders\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Why do they call LAD a widow maker? Cardiology Basics LAD is short form for left anterior descending coronary artery. LAD is usually the largest branch of the left main coronary artery which supplies the major portion of the left ventricle. It supplies major portion of the interventricular septum which mostly constitutes the anterior wall [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/johnsonfrancis.org\/professional\/why-do-they-call-lad-a-widow-maker-cardiology-basics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"All About Cardiovascular System and Disorders\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-10-07T13:25:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-10-07T15:30:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/johnsonfrancis.org\/professional\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Why-do-they-call-LAD-a-widow-maker-Cardiology-Basics.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1209\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Johnson Francis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Johnson Francis\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/johnsonfrancis.org\\\/professional\\\/why-do-they-call-lad-a-widow-maker-cardiology-basics\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/johnsonfrancis.org\\\/professional\\\/why-do-they-call-lad-a-widow-maker-cardiology-basics\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Johnson Francis\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/johnsonfrancis.org\\\/professional\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5441d907049b914770f4bd98fb57feec\"},\"headline\":\"Why do they call LAD a widow maker? 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