Dad back in cardio ward

[baly_2023]

Don't think it's even been 4 weeks since his NSTEMI and stent and he was back in the cardio ward with chest pains and breathlessness.

I was there when the cardiologist came in and based on my dad's symptoms ( shooting pains, breathlessness, happens mainly at night, when lying down) I asked the cardiologist if it could be microvascular angina?

It's odd as what ever happened caused troponin to be at 100 . The cardiologist is going to request another angiogram but said its a bit odd.

My dad is OK but he's really p#£# off being stuck in a ward again.

I told him to relax and it's the best place to be in.

[Milkfairy Heart Star]

I am sorry your father is back in hospital. Why do you feel microvascular angina is a possible cause of your father's symptoms?

If a person's troponin blood levels are raised, along with ECG changes and angina like symptoms, this may indicate a heart attack has occurred.

However troponin blood levels can stay raised for other reasons.

A ' normal ' angiogram looking for blockages that doesn't assess how the coronary blood vessels work, will not be able to detect microvascular or vasospastic angina.

Vasospastic angina tends to lead to chest pain at rest, especially during the night, between midnight and 6am.

Microvascular angina is more common in women rather than men.

Here's the BHF information about microvascular angina.

bhf.org.uk/informationsuppo...

This paper about vasospastic angina was published recently. My Cardiologist loaded it onto my careplan and electronic patient records.

During my admission last month the staff were reading the paper.

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10...

I wish your father a speedy recovery.

[baly_2023 in reply to Milkfairy]

Thanks Milkfairy , ECG no signs, even the cardiologist was saying this is odd , ie how can he have another heart attack so soon after he was angiogrammed and stented.

He might be unlucky who knows.

I've sent him that link, could be useful for him and cardiologist to talk about.

[Milkfairy Heart Star in reply to baly_2023]

It's not unusual not to have ECG changes with microvascular and vasospastic angina. Some people don't have ECG changes even with a heart attack.

I have a confirmed diagnosis of vasospastic angina. I don't always have ECG changes as it's difficult to catch a coronary vasospasm in action.