Symptoms
How We Can Help You
Microvascular dysfunction is a type of non-obstructive coronary artery disease that causes the small blood vessels feeding the heart muscle to not work as they should.
This condition tends to affect more women than men and can cause chronic chest pain. Because most diagnostic tests for heart disease cannot detect microvascular dysfunction, people with this disorder may feel frustrated and hopeless.
At Stanford’s Women’s Heart Health Clinic, our specialists actively look for microvascular dysfunction and other hard-to-detect non-obstructive coronary artery diseases. We use specific tests to diagnose this condition and finally give women an explanation for their pain. We also provide experience-based treatment approaches to ease symptoms and prevent complications.
What We Offer You For Microvascular Dysfunction
- Specialized expertise in treating microvascular dysfunction and other forms of non-obstructive coronary artery disease.
- Precise diagnosis options including the index of microcirculatory resistance (IMR), which measures blood flow in small arteries and was developed at Stanford.
- Comprehensive treatment options, including one of the country’s most advanced behavior modification programs for people with heart disease.
- Team-based approach that brings together cardiologists, psychologists, dietitians, and other specialists to create a care plan tailored to your needs.
- Robust support services including mindfulness classes and nutrition counseling to help people with microvascular dysfunction build healthy lifestyle habits.
- Active research program with an extensive, ongoing patient registry that contributes to our understanding of little-known heart conditions.
Treatment for Microvascular Dysfunction
At our Women’s Heart Health Clinic, we frequently see women who have chest pain but no physical blockages of the arteries. We look at all possible causes of chest pain, including difficult-to-detect forms of coronary artery disease.
At Stanford, we listen to your concerns and evaluate your entire coronary circulation. We use the most advanced technology to diagnose coronary abnormalities, like microvascular dysfunction, that can be hard to detect on an angiogram or other typical diagnostic tests. In fact, the newest, most accurate method to detect microvascular dysfunction was developed here at Stanford.
If you are diagnosed with microvascular dysfunction, we make you an active partner in your treatment plan to identify the options that best suit your needs. Throughout treatment, we check in with you regularly to see how you are responding and make any adjustments to help you feel your best.
Our approach to treatment includes:
Medication
Your provider may prescribe one or more medications for you to take in combination with making lifestyle changes. The drugs that treat microvascular dysfunction help open the small blood vessels to ease chest pain and prevent complications.
Your provider will find the right dosage for you and help manage any possible side effects.
Stanford’s cardiologists have extensive experience treating all forms of non-obstructive coronary artery dysfunction and other forms of non-obstructive coronary artery disease.
Lifestyle Modification
To manage microvascular dysfunction and prevent it from getting worse, your doctor will talk to you about making lifestyle changes. You may need to eat more healthfully, stop smoking and reduce stress.
Our behavioral psychologists and other specialists in our Cardiac Behavioral Medicine Program support you in making these changes. They, along with your provider, meet with you regularly to help you manage microvascular dysfunction.
- Exercise Counseling: The chest pain from microvascular dysfunction may flare up when exercising, yet exercise is an important part of controlling the symptoms and preventing the condition from getting worse. We work with you to help you learn how to modify your exercise routine and may prescribe medications to help you exercise without chest pain.
- Stress Management: Stress can worsen the chest pain from microvascular dysfunction. Our behavioral therapists can teach you mindfulness-based stress reduction techniques to help you manage stress and chest pain.
Clinical Trials
Clinical trials are research studies that evaluate a new medical approach, device, drug, or other treatment. As a Stanford Health Care patient, you may have access to the latest, advanced clinical trials.
We have ongoing enrollment in a registry of patients who have nonobstructive coronary artery disease that helps us understand microvascular dysfunction and other hidden causes of chest pain.
Open trials refer to studies currently recruiting participants or that may recruit participants in the near future. Closed trials are not currently enrolling, but similar studies may open in the future.
To learn more about the clinical trials we offer, contact CT CONTACT NAME and Phone NUMBER
What is Microvascular Dysfunction?
Our Clinics
We provide exceptional heart care that starts with the understanding that women’s bodies have different health needs. We treat the whole woman, using evidence-based approaches to prevent and treat heart disease, including conditions like microvascular dysfunction, that predominantly affect women.
2nd Fl Rm A260
Stanford, CA 94305
Phone: 650-725-5909 Getting Here
To schedule an appointment, please call: 888-888-8888