I was admittef to hospital yesterday, with afib. Was utterly devastated when troponin number was 285....following troponin test result many hours later 279. Severe damage to heart thats lrreversi le. I am literally terrified and so disappointed. My world fell apart.
A+E cardiologists do not suspect actual heart attack. They think something has gone wrong with stent that i had fitted May2023 due to blocked artery. I did not have a HA prior to stent. Since getting stent fitted i have had new symptoms. Have not had any post stent follow up appointment.
Im waiting for a echocardiogram. Question is: Can this test detest any problems with stent if any at all?
Sorry for rushed post....very tired
Sincere thanks
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DizzyD
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You can have a heart attack without any blockages to the coronary arteries. Known as a Myocardial Infarction non obstructive coronary arteries MINOCA.
When the heart is not supplied with the blood it needs this is known as a demand/ supply mismatch, it causes a lack of blood to the heart muscle, ischaemia. If this myocardial ischaemia lasts long enough the heart muscle is damaged, a myocardial infarction. Troponin a protein is released into the blood stream when this happens.
If the heart becomes inflamed due to myocarditis or pericarditis then the heart muscle will also release troponin into the blood
Conditions that can cause this type of mismatch are coronary vasospasms, microvascular dysfunction, very high or low heart rate or atrial fibrillation
A rise then fall of troponin blood levels, accompanied by chest pain and dynamic ECG changes, can suggest an acute coronary syndrome episode or a heart attack has occurred.
An echocardiogram will be looking for any changes in the way the wall of the heart is moving. It can't see if the coronary arteries or stent are blocked.
Some people have raised troponin blood levels however the heart muscle may be stunned at first but then recover.
Another test you maybe offered is a cardiac perfusion MRI which looks at the heart muscle itself.
I suggest you ask one of the Cardiology team to explain the significance of your raised troponin blood levels with you.
Sincere thank you Milkfairy for very informative reply. Your help and support means a lot to me as i'm sure it does to many others on this forum who you reply to.
Milkfairy, you do not have to read this lengthy post....I write them as a sort of diary for furture reference.
Unfortunately, I did not get to read your reply to my post while i was in hospital because not long after posting it on the this forum, I was literally sent home from a+e after being there for a total of 24 hours, despise having had a heart attack. Was no offered any further help or support from cardiology dept at that hospital. Literally, i have been abandoned.
Upon reading your reply, i have reached the conclusion that i had a myocardial infarction which was induced by very high heart rate which was not AFib. Question is what caused the very high heart rate? All will become clear.
Initially, i sent this post on second day of being in hospital ( A+E) because a lovely cardiologist I saw( on my first day of admission when arrhythmias were still very high) referred me for a echocardiogram as she suspected stent I had fitted on 16 May 23 could have contributed to raised troponin levels.
Let me explain.
During our lenghty conversation, i told her that since stent, i had constant ache middle of chest along with breathlessness, while resting or casually walking about. Strange as it may sound, the ache/breathlessness completely ease when I pick up pace the discomfort would eventually disappear altogether as walking exercise progressed for longer period of time. In all honesty i could have walked forever but i had to stop on account of my dog being tired. She was very surprised when i told her about this. At that point she asked which arm was used to insert stent then she checked for a pulse in my right arm (site of entry for stent) and could not find a pulse. Left side arm pulse was strong. She was very surprised.
Also explained to this lovely lady cardiologist that morning time of onset of this horrific experience aorta near top of gut just went ballistic, very strong pounding pulsating...felt like aorta was going to explode. Then there was a surge of forceful energy up through front of chest and into carotid artery left side of neck causing pain as it also pounded, pulsated, with s shunted movements and force into my head. Then came the most horrific pain all over my head. I was literally paralysed with fear and fully expected to die. As the surge of blood episode subsided I then felt actual heart arrhythmias for the very first time. Headache, remained.
Hence this doctor was very concerned and proposed to do a echocardiogram but i never did get one.
15 hours later was still waiting to be taken for a echocardiogram. Not being familar with working of a+e dept i saw another cardiologist (which is the norm he can support previous cardiologists request for echocardiogram or reject it) who asked me to explain to him what had happened. As soon as i started talking about aorta/carotid artery/ head stuff he literally cut me off and said impatiently said, its all down to AFib. He got angry and irate when i replied that i had never had an afib experience like this before. He said i will prescribed you bisoprolol 1.25 which will lower your heart rate then you can go home. No mention of a heart attack. I felt so demoralized and humiliated cant remember if he said anything else...I just had to get out of there. No referral to cardiology dept...no follow up after care...nothing at all.
No one in hospital explained significance of raised troponin levels but you did Milkfairy. Thank you once again.
I am sorry you have had such a poor experience and you were not listened to or treated with respect and dignity by all the staff you encountered.
Perhaps write everything you can remember down as soon as possible include how the experience made you feel while it is fresh in your mind.
Then when you are ready, perhaps go and see your GP and discuss what has happened and ask to be referred to a Cardiologist.
I would also encourage you to contact the Patient Advisory Liaison Service PALS of the hospital concerned and raise your concerns. Again tell them how you felt when the Registrar spoke to you.
Request that you are seen by a Consultant Cardiologist who can explain to you why you were sent home with a raised troponin blood level without further investigations to make sure you hadn't had a heart attack.
There is plenty of research to show that women's heart attacks are misdiagonised or women don't receive the same standard of care as men.
This research using data from the National Cardiac Audit Programme showed that men consistently get better care in all regions in England compared to women.
Axeman121 - are you sure about this? my understanding is that this is done with a Doppler ultrasound, which is different to a standard echocardiogram showing the blood flow through the heart chambers, the muscle wall thickness and how it changes during pumping and the overall shape of he heart
Hidden i can't see your original comment any more - have you removed it? if you have this leaves my question completely out of context and this is not very helpful for the person who posted the enquiry - it is also rather rude when you do it twice without bothering to respond
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
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