A new myocardial infarction patient requiring angioplasty and stent placement has arrived to his first cardiac rehabilitation appointment. In this first session, a review of the pathogenesis of coronary artery disease is addressed. Which statement by the patient verifies to the nurse that he has understood the nurse's teachings about coronary artery
disease?

a. "All I have to do is stop smoking, and then I won't have any more heart attacks."
b. "My artery was clogged by fat, so I will need to stop eating fatty foods like French fries every day."
c. "Sounds like this began because of inflammation inside my artery that made it easy to form fatty streaks, which lead to my clogged artery."
d. "If I do not exercise regularly to get my heart rate up, blood pools in the veins

c. "Sounds like this began because of inflammation inside my artery that made it easy to form fatty streaks, which lead to my clogged artery."

Explanation:

In acute myocardial infarction a part of the heart dies because complete obstruction of a coronary artery deprives it of oxygen. The consequent loss of its function is supplied by the rest of the muscle that has not been damaged. The treatment at this acute moment consists of an early obstruction of the clogged artery. On the other hand, when unstable angina occurs, a part of the heart suffers from "ischemia", this is a reversible suffering due to a temporary lack of oxygen. This situation occurs when a coronary artery has progressed in its degree of obstruction and the treatment is that the artery does not block.

Angioplasty: Using a catheter that includes a balloon (inflatable balloon) at the tip dilates or expands the arterial obstruction.