Unstable Angina

[Cornz]

Hi I'm new here. It's almost 13 weeks since my Quad Bypass surgery and thought have been doing well with rehab up until two days ago when I experienced chest pains, fatigue and shortness of breath. I was taken to A & E and was told they suspect unstable Angina. I've been referred to a Stress Echo but feeling concerned that I'm having these problems which I thought the bypass would eliminate. I appreciate your advice and information.

[MichaelJH Heart Star]

Hello and welcome to the forum! Were you resting or active when you got angina? And have you had a reoccurrence?

Angina unfortunately reocuurs post bypass in a number of people. In was more common in the early days of bypass surgery. I have not seen any reliable figures but it may be ~10%. This increases over the years to maybe 25% at year 5. Factors that affect this are smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, non adherence to prescribed medication, failure of a graft , unhealthy diet, etc.

I suspect as it has occurred so soon after surgery it is probably the failure of a graft. If this is the case hopefully it can be stented and your recovery restarted. Let us know what they say.

[Cornz in reply to MichaelJH]

Hi Michael. Thank you for such an informative reply. I was resting when it happened and it has not reoccured. Although I was given Isosorbide and GTN spray as additional medication. I am hoping I will get a good result from the stress echo to allay my fears and that further procedure will not be necessary. I will post updates here. Once again thanks very much.