Heart attack last August, no Stent

[richard_jw]

I had a STEMI last August. 999 super fast response, and I was taken to cath lab within 1 hour of the 999 call.

They did angioplasty, but were unable to insert stent(s) because of ectatic Right coronary artery. I'm told this means that instead of being smooth, the artery has narrow bits and wide bits. The problem was clots in the artery which blocked it completely. They tried to clear the clots but only managed to clear some, and then they put me on an infusion overnight to try to clear the rest. Then they did another angioplasty the following day, which was more successful.

Damage done to heart muscle but apparently not too bad by some measure.

This came out of the blue, and I had no warning. Apparently it was caused by the odd shape of the artery.

Currently I am OK. I'm not sure if I am suffering from angina or not since I'm 76 and have aches and pains anyway and was not aware of angina before the STEMI.

Main symptoms are palpitations, poor balance general feeling of weakness and fatigue after exercise. GP does not want to get involved. It seems that if you have had a heart attack and describe symptoms the standard response is to go to A&E via 999.

I have seen 2 cardiologists privately, both have different opinions about whether I have angina

I wondered if any one has had remotely similar experiences and what was the outcome

[MountainGoat52]

Hi Richard,

Unfortunately I cannot relate directly to your situation, but I had a blood clot which caused a HA. After tests the cause of the blood clot was found to be partially hereditary, with me being found to have a high homocysteine level which has subsequently been lowered by a daily dose of B vitamins.

I wonder whether you have had an answer to whether the narrow parts of your artery can be stented to reduce the potential for further blockages and improve blood flow. I know that when my artery was stented I found it much easier to exercise, even though I was fit before my HA. I also took off 6kg in a week on account of the improvement in my cardio-vascular system.

I hope you get some answers soon.

Best regards, Gerald