The disease is associated with hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, obesity, cigarette smoking, and social and psychological factors. As atheromatous plaque formed in the inner wall of coronary artery causes stenosis or obstruction of the blood vessel and block of blood flow, and results in myocardial ischemia, hypoxia and even necrosis, the disease is also called ischemic heart disease. About 90 % of CHDs result from coronary atheroclerosis and about 5 %- 10% from coronary vasospasm.

According to the clinical manifestations, it belongs the categories of "xiong bi" (thoracic obstruction of qi), "xin tong" (cardialgia), "xin ji" (palpitation), "jue xin tong" (precordial pain with cold limbs) and "zhen xin tong" (angina pectoris) in TCM. Its pathogenic factors include inward attack of exogenous pathogenic cold, improper diet, emotional disharmony, and aging and debility. Its pathogenesis is involved with the deficiency and excess. The former refers to deficiency of the heart, spleen and kidney and nutritional deficiency of blood vessel; the latter to stagnation of cold, qi and blood, and phlegm obstructing pectoral yang and heart vessels. If the blockage of heart vessels by blood stasis occurs, it may give rise to myocardial infarction and the prognosis may be unfavourable.