Vascular Disease

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a group of disorders of the heart and blood vessels and they include:

• coronary heart disease – a disease of the blood vessels supplying the heart muscle;
• cerebrovascular disease – a disease of the blood vessels supplying the brain;
• peripheral arterial disease – a disease of blood vessels supplying the arms and legs;
• rheumatic heart disease – damage to the heart muscle and heart valves from rheumatic fever, caused by streptococcal bacteria;
• congenital heart disease – malformations of heart structure existing at birth;
• deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism – blood clots in the leg veins, which can dislodge and move to the heart and lungs.