Angina is chest pain or discomfort that results when the heart muscle does not get enough blood. Angina can feel like pressure or a squeezing pain in the chest. Angina can also cause pain in the shoulders, arms, neck, jaw or back.

There are three types of angina:

• Stable
  
  
• Unstable
  
  
• Variant

Both stable and unstable angina is a symptom of potential heart (coronary artery) disease. Effective management of heart (coronary) disease reduces the occurrence of major cardiac events such as heart attacks, and may also reduce hospital admission rates for chest pain. Hospital admission for chest pain is not a measure of hospital quality, but rather one way to measure outpatient care for chest pain. Proper outpatient treatment may decrease the likelihood of hospital admission for angina.