just seen a new cardiologist and he gave me a ecg and it’s come up with septal myocardial infarction! but I haven’t had a heart attack or stroke! He has ordered an echo and Iam also now on blood pressure tablets . Just wondering if anyone else has got this and what does it mean. he’s not put me on any medication.
Thanks.
It is possible you had what is called a 'silent heart attack' that's why he's requested an echo to see if you have had one and if so what damage it did.
Thanks for replying. I’ve got a loop implant which I’ve had for 3 years but that has never showed anything. Iam waiting an operation on my hiatus hernia. I presume that if the consultant didn’t give me any meds he wasent too worried fingers crossed !
yes, similar happened to my only recently when I had to call an ambulance due my AFib. The ECG that the ambulance crew took came up twice with ‘myocardial infarction’ and I was asked if I had ever had a heart attack to which I replied NO. So to cut a long story short, just by chance, I saw a copy of a referral letter which set out all my previous medical history going back to 1959, and low and behold in 2008 there it was ‘myocardial infarction’. I remember being in hospital at that time due to heart problems so obviously it occurred whilst I was on the ward. Neither I or my husband were never made aware of the fact so I can only assume it was mild.
I know of 2 friends whose EKGs were suspicious of an old septal infarction but echocardiography showed no evidence of wall motion abnormalities. They were told their EKG patterns were normal variants as their echos showed no evidence of old myocardial damage and they didn't have emphysema either to account for the EKG changes.
That sounds reassuring
I've had that but cardiologist says they don't believe the printout but read the ECGs for themselves.
Yes, me too. This started after I reacted badly to vit D, with all the red flag symptoms of a heart attack, chest pain, nausea, sweating, etc, I rang 999.My troponin was raised in hospital but the 2nd troponin was either done late, or not at all, I was never told the result. I know I still had raised troponin 2 days later when I was taken back to A& E.
I have always been told that they don't take any notice of what the print out says, they rely on their own interpretation.
Yes it will be interesting what comes up after I have the echocardiogram done and also my hiatus hernia op
Good luck with the op, the last time I spoke to a GP he outright denied that operations were done on jiatus hernias.I knew he was wrong but it makes it difficult to get a referral for a consultation about it to see if would be necessary/desirable/effective in my specific case, but I do believe it can aggravate AF.
I'd love to know how you get on, both with the echo and the op.
Thank you. According to my test results on my hernia my stomach is half way up into my chest and pressing on the back of my heart so needs to be done.
Sounds horrible. I had an endoscopy in 2021 which found mine, but that was it.Good luck with it all.
Thanks
I had an increase in my Angina, an angiogram showed no reason so i was sent for a Stress MRI.It turns out i have a focal full tissue infarction and localised micro vascualar blockages They would not commit to a heart attack at some point. I also had signs of myocarditis.
Did he say if you had had a silent heart attack?
No he just asked if I had had one
Hi, yes it's very possible to have visible outcomes that occurred without symptoms or explanations. Here's my list. Severe stroke, (thankfully successfully thrombolysed) no prior symptoms and routine checks, ECG, echocardiogram, bloods showed no obvious cause. Described as cryptogenic stroke. An ILR fitted to check for possible Afib. Three months on a single short Afib was detected so medication changed to anticoagulant from antiplatelet. This was called paroxysmal Afib. Then two years later a sudden cardiac arrest whilst on a parkrun. Bloods showed some raised troponin levels but ECG, echocardiogram, basic MRI, angiogram showed no issues. So described as an idiopathic event. The ILR was interrogated and showed a left ventricular tachycardia coinciding with the collapse. In the absence of any expected cardiovascular causes as seen in most patients one 'pushy' cardiologist who wanted my bed said I had had a 'silent heart attack' at some time, have an ICD fitted and go home. However there was divergent opinion in the cardiology team , some agreeing that there should be further investigation. This was post COVID where hospital pressures were huge. Specialist investigations weren't offered in the general hospital so for a Cardiac MRI and a specialist Pet scan I needed to go to Oxford on two occasions. The MRI found heart scarring and wall thinning on the left ventricle consistent with either an embolic or sarcoid event. When this happened wasn't possible to determine but it was clearly the cause of the LVT problems. I had no symptoms prior to these events, and remain unaware of issues. I had to accept that further tests, may find a a 'rare' cause but there would be no cost benefit to the medical system or likely my treatment. It's very frustrating living with a condition and not having a definite cause or explanation. And the silent heart attack, raised troponin levels are not only a sign of a conventional heart attack and can be present with other heart issues. Keep encouraging your cardiology team to be curious, don't be afraid to ask questions, ask for explanations. I experienced irritated cardiologists who didn't engage with patients, but also curious cardiologists who supported patients.
Thank you for your reply. I have got a loop recorder but that hasent really shown up anything much . The cardiologist I saw last week hadn’t even got any results from that ! My blood tests have just come back normal. I agree all very frustrating hopefully the echo will clear all this up for me. Also Iam quite convinced that if my hiatus hernia is pressing on my heart it must be doing g something to it.
If you are suspected of having paroxysmal Afib hopefully it will be picked up. There is a problem that as they fit more and more ILR's and subsequent pacemakers or ICD's they are not necessarily recruiting more electrophysiologists to monitor the auto generated reports. Theoretically they shouldn't miss a red flag report but they may not see it until they actively monitor the inbox - I base this generalisation on my one person experience but six weeks stay in a CCU too! My Afib was picked up only after I had the stroke so the preventative value of the ILR was not really utilised and if I had had warnings of an LVT that hadn't been picked up. I was told by a cardiologist that as soon as the Afib singular event was detected, they ceased to monitor the ILR, it had done it's job! The echocardiogram should at least find if there are problems with your heart, valves and blood vessels. If they come back clear on the echo then you must press them to investigate further.
If you believe you have relevent history make sure you can give a succinct summary at every appointment. They are so pressed they do not fully read notes.
It sounds to me that you are on your own case and not prepared to sit back which is good. But always important to remind yourself how well trained all cardiologists are even if they are not the best communicators.
Thank you. It’s just so frustrating some of the time and waiting for appointments and results etc. Hopefully will be getting a letter this week regarding my last week cardiologist appointment which may make things clearer
myocardial bridge 
MRI CARDIAC MYOCARDIAL VIABILITY
Myocardial bridge 
Myocardial Bridge 
