Sympathetic afferent fibers originate from a visceral organ, course in the thoracolumbar rami communicantes, have cell bodies located in dorsal root ganglia, and terminate in the gray matter of the spinal cord. Sympathetic afferent fibers from the heart transmit information about noxious stimuli associated with myocardial ischemia, i. e. angina pectoris. Previous reviews have described the characteristics of cardiovascular sympathetic afferent fibers (Bishop et al. 1983; Malliani 1982). This review summarizes that work and focuses on the neural mechanisms underlying the complexities of angina...