My Cardioligist did a left heart catheration last weds and placed 2 stents in my RCA that was 99% blocked. That has all seemed to work out well. He also was going to try and stent my LAD that he now says is 95% blocked. He said the entire LAD was 95% thru out the entire LAD. He decided then it would take too many stents to fix so he said we were going to work with meds and lifestyle changes to fix issue. That seems odd to me and makes me nervous with that much blockage there. Said my blood flow was not good but enough! Talking with him in person again next week. Has anyone out there had a similar experience?
Thanks......
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socia
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I haven’t got an experience with this but wanted to say, I completely empathise with why you’re feeling worried and I think that’s natural - doesn’t make it any easier though.
I hope there will be others along with relative experience who can help to alleviate some of your concerns but I think it would be worth making a list of your worries for treatment with medication over stenting and ask them to your cardiologist (no matter how silly or insignificant you think they might be) because knowing is half the battle.
My husband has lived with a 100% completely blocked LAD since 1997 after he had a massive heart attack & cardic arrest. Neither stenting or bypass were an option so he's been treated with medication, low fat Mediterranean diet & exercise since then. The heart builds its own natural bypass with collateral arteries. He's never had another heart attack & a recent MIBI scan showed no reason to be concerned about his arteries. He does now have heart failure but that's due to the damage caused by the heart attack & nothing to do with the blocked artery. Obviously everyone is different but I hope this puts your mind at rest.
That’s so reassuring to read ❤️ My husband has 2 blockages (not his LAD) which happened only a couple of months after a quadruple bypass but he’s coping well with just medication so reading about your husband is great, thank you xx
Lezzers, WOW! This does indeed give me hope. Thanks for sharing. Sounds like my cardiologist plan might make since after all reading about your husband's experience. I am going to talk with him next week and this info will certainly help. Thank You and I will keep you posted........ Daniel
Please do keep us posted. What meds are you taking? Amongst others my husband was on lisinopril from 1997 2016. Tbf, whilst this artery was blocked his others were fine & because he obviously wanted to keep them that way he was very strict in his diet & exercise. His cholesterol was usual around 4ish but Papworth wanted it under 3 so he was prescribed statins which he'd had no problems with.
It's always concerning when it's not explained. Write down your concerns, ask for diagrams to get a better understanding. It's so difficult to get into a cardiologist, don't let them hurry you. Take care. Moni
Had bypass grafts on both RCA & LAD 3 years ago.Both failed and blocked. Had 3 stents in RCA but nothing done to LAD. When I asked why was told risk of bursting if scenting was attempted as the blockage was too low in the artery.
Jill, Hang in there. Yea kinda spooky stuff for sure. I will keep you posted on what I find out about my LAD issue. Please keep me informed on your condition and possible solutions.
My husband had an almost total LAD blockage in 2018 he had 3 stents fitted then had to go back about 4 weeks later to have 2 more due to narrowing of LCX and RCA. His symptoms were not typical but are any! An ECG a few weeks prior to his heart attack did not show any concerning issues but we were told he was very lucky and thankfully there was no damage to his heart. He was also found to have hypercholestrolemia which is a genetic high cholesterol condition. He has been on medication since and has not had any further problems, each case is unique but if you have concerns voice them & ask for explanations.
Sorry you’re going through this. I was shocked at age 44 and still menstruating that my LAD was 90% blocked. Not sure why I was so shocked, could happen to any of us (strong family history of heart disease).
Cardiologist put one stent in. That was November 2021.
I remember reading about the LAD artery. Scary things online about it.
My thoughts are with you. Scary when they see a problem but not actively treat it, other than via lifestyle changes alone. Makes you feel vulnerable doesn’t it.
Let us know how you get on after your next discussion with your Cardiologist, Sally.
All I can add is that I was apparently living with 95% LAD blockage for years before a routine exam found that it was blocked. I never had any cardiac symptoms and in fact was a very dedicated cyclist. I had 2 stents put in, but then had a cardiac arrest with blockage in the circumflex. My amateur theory is that the stents disrupted the alternative pathways I had developed and somehow led to the CA. That said, the past is past. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I had severe LAD blockage without symptoms...
hi socia. My right coronary artery was stented but the left was too blocked with calcium. Don’t remember the percentage. So they referred me to Harefield, where the surgeon drilled the calcium out (rotablation) and then stented it. Good luck!
Going to ask if this is a possible treatment for me. I think mine has blockages throughout the entire LAD and not just a couple of blocked areas if that makes any sense....
Hi, last September I had a triple bypass which failed straight away. My LAD was 100% blocked and I also had severe narrowing of RCA and LCX. My cardiologist managed to put 2 long stents in my LAD and stents in each of the other arteries. I still have one other completely blocked artery but there's nothing they can do about that. Still getting random chest pains. Feel pretty broken inside to be honest. (I also suffered from a severe PE and have a paralysed diaphragm following my surgery) My cardiologist did a great job and I think even he was impressed with himself! Ask your doctor to explain why he can't stent your LAD again. It could be that I had a small amount of blood going through one of my failing dlgrafts that he was able to do mine.Good luck,
I had an 95% blocked distal LAD which was not possible to stent.
That was over 10 years ago, I haven't had any further problems but I believe that statins have stabilised the plaque and stopped it from progressing.
The problems come when bits of plaque or blood clots break loose and get stuck in the artery.
Blocked arteries also develop 'collateral flow' which means they develop a series of tiny bypasses which keep the heart supplied with blood.....look it up, it's quite comforting.
Thats encouraging to hear. I am also 95% blocked and he said it would take to many stents in my LAD so cardiologist has decided to treat my blockage with medicines and lifestyle changes. Said bypass would be last resort. It is spooky though to have that much blockage in you LAD and to just treat via medicines but after reading your post I see it might not be a bad plan afterall, Thanks for the info. By the way he was able to put 2 stents in my RCA last week but backed off the LAD......
Hello Socia well we can relate to what you are saying when the drs. suggested only medication and collateral circulation to my husband recently. He was 36 when he had 3 angioplasties done and 55 when he had quintuple bypass and now at 67 they've told him no surgeries available due to blockages. We felt lost with no further advice, but now after doing much research on our own re: collateral circulation, looking into other options and moving forward we are okay and have hope. Prior to this latest episode he was going to the gym 5 days per week for the past 12 years (since his bypass). We were also watching diet, mediterranean diet, and doing a lot of walking. We believe this was his saving grace. As Mummasoap suggests get a list of ??? for your cardiologist although ours just said "carry on with life" (your new blood thinner) and collateral circulation. I also heard him say something about 6 - 8 weeks, upon further research those 6 - 8 weeks but be the time for the collateral circulation to work (or not) so be kind to yourself. If you are indoors due to colder weather, try to walk indoors daily, watch what you eat and as the drs. told him "you will know if the collateral circulation is working?" I guess, now in hindsight, the fact he is able to walk a further distance and is able to stay up almost like he was before a possible sign it is working. The only true way to find out if it is working is an angiogram and our "system" does not allow for a further angiogram to check that out, it is also an invasive test. Hope this helps you Socia ? and say a prayer or two ! Take care, stay healthy
I had been getting a bit of pain in my left arm, slightly breathless, and pain in my neck for about three weeks. GTN didn’t relieve it one morning. ambulance into hospital surprised to find my LAD was 98% blocked! Very scary thought but had three stents put in.
The fact that your heart can actually get enough blood through 5% without really giving any symptoms is astonishing.
The LAD is only 2-3mm in diameter!
I’m sure the meds they’ll give you will help the flow, I’d ask as many questions as you can, what meds and what will they do to help?
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