Anyone actually had a heart attack? Seems I might have...

[lofwyr]

Hey folks, as some of you may have known, or not, I am dealing with a bit of heart stuff. I have an aortic aneurysm, and a bad aortic valve. All of that has to be corrected with open heart surgery, which I am actually cool with. Surprisingly, not freaking out at all about it.

However, as part of the work up for that procedure, I was given an angiogram/heart catheter to look for clogged arteries. Before the procedure, as routine, they give you an EKG, which they did in short order and then I was off to the procedure.

The angiogram went swimmingly. I am 46, almost 47, but my coronary arteries, much to my surprise, were in phenomenal shape. My cardiologist said I had the arteries of a 25 year old. This was outstanding news. I cleared another hurtle towards the surgery. That was 9 days ago.

Fast forward to this morning, I was sorting through my test results online, and read the angiogram, which was great. Then I took a look at the EKG results. They said I had a Septal Myichardial Infarction of Undetermined Time. The EKG said I have had a septal heart attack at some point in the past.

Now, this was a huge surprise, as the cardiologist--who signed off on it before the angiogram--never said anything about it to me. He said I looked great. I have no symptoms, I am reasonably fit, and he made no mention of the EKG results at all, before or after the angiogram.

I have also had an echo, and a ct chest scan, none of which picked up anything heart related mentioning a septal heart attack.

Would I be wise just to ignore the EKG, which I can understand can be somewhat irreliable, given that I have had an echo, an angiogram with the fluor contrast, all unremarkable? Also, given that he never mentioned the heart attack to me?

Has anyone else has issues like this with an EKG? What is the gold standard for measurements? I have had no stress tests, or holter monitor, but it seems like I have had all the other big ones.

[Fishmanpa]

Dealing with heart stuff like you have and most know I do too is difficult at best. A septal myocardial infarction indicates that you had muscle damage on the heart due to oxygen deficiencies. That being said, apparently, due to the doctors not even bringing it up, they may consider it's not a threat to your overall health. A simple phone call or email would address your concerns.

Positive thoughts

[lofwyr]

Yes, for whatever reason the heart was never a worry of mine. Then boom, I develop and aortic aneurysm, and then see a test result that shows I had a heart attack, but no blockages.

Yes, I am worried now, but the aorta thing doesn't concern me at all. The heart attack thing, though, that has me spun up. But my cardiologist, who hasn't said word one to me about it, is very good. I will call and see what he thinks.

[Amayatylor]

No, i don't had a heart attack. BTW thanks for sharing your experience. it is valuable to me

[Rhiannon.]

My dad had about 14 heart attacks and completely ignored them. The only reason wefound out he's had them was when he had three MASSIVE heart attacksin one day. The tests he had done revealed extensive damage to the heart to the point that the back was non functional. It was old damage too and not caused by the three big ones. We had no idea!

You may have had one, or maybe not. The important thing is it has been noted and now you can make steps to deal with it and stop further damage, unlike my dad who didn't know something was wrong until it was too late to stop!

And the good news is that my dad is still with us fifteen years later and has had no further heart problems

[WiredIncorrectly]

And the good news is that my dad is still with us fifteen years later and has had no further heart problems

Wow! God bless modern medicine! That's great news to hear. This is why it's so important to get regular checkups.

[lofwyr]

That is amazing! I am wishing I hadn't explored my test results, to be honest. I was feeling fine, but now that I have read that I might have had a heart attack, I am hyper vigilant.

I need to just try to calm myself and put a call into my cardiologist tomorrow.

[lofwyr]

As an aside, my cardiologist emailed me this morning, and confirmed that I have zero evidence of ever having had a heart attack, and explained to me that the EKG can often read badly when someone has an aortic aneurysm.

It is odd to feel such relief. The aneurysm is fixable, and I will be moving ahead with that next week with a new surgeon--one of the best in the area for aortic aneurysms, so it is great news. It is so weird to not be anxious about it. Even weirder is that I am kind of excited to move forward and get it behind me.

[damianjmcgrath]

I'm really sorry to ask this but it's a bit of a trigger for me. Isn't 47/48 young for heart problems and how did you first notice the symptoms related to your aneurysm?

[Fishmanpa]

As an aside, my cardiologist emailed me this morning, and confirmed that I have zero evidence of ever having had a heart attack, and explained to me that the EKG can often read badly when someone has an aortic aneurysm.

It is odd to feel such relief. The aneurysm is fixable, and I will be moving ahead with that next week with a new surgeon--one of the best in the area for aortic aneurysms, so it is great news. It is so weird to not be anxious about it. Even weirder is that I am kind of excited to move forward and get it behind me.

That's good news and I know what you mean about just wanting to get it over with. For me, being sick is a HUGE PITA! I have things to do and life to live and it really put a kink in the armor having to deal with it.

I'm really sorry to ask this but it's a bit of a trigger for me. Isn't 47/48 young for heart problems and how did you first notice the symptoms related to your aneurysm?

I was extremely fit and had my 1st heart attack and triple bypass at 47. BUT, I abused the heck out of myself in my younger years, smoking, drinking, partying WAY too much. Between that and heredity, I paid the price.

Positive thoughts