Questions posted in the Heart Forum have been answered by doctors from The Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

Question Title: Being diagnosed with CAD What next

Forum: The Heart Forum
Topic: Heart Attack


I had a heart attack in June and late Sep went in and had another catherization.I am being told that my arteries are eat up pretty bad and have been shown this on film.I am on Imdur,Ticlid,Diltiazem,Antenonal.procardia and have a follow up with my doctor the end of Oct.I have regular angina pains I am told no more stints can be installed and a graph is questionable.All I read is the high mortality rate from CAD It,s rather depressing,are there any new meds,procedures,vitamins anything posative for someone in my condition.
And are my arteries going to get worse or can they be stabalized?I am 37 and there must be something to look forward too than angina pain and mortality from this the rest of my life.


Thankyou, J Taylor

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Dear John, thank you for your question. I understand your concern about your diagnosis and the stated therapeutic options. Indeed, you are quite young to have such severe coronary artery disease. Risk factors for coronary disease include smoking, high cholesterol levels, diabetes, a family history of premature coronary disease (before age 55), obesity, and high blood pressure. Your risk factors should be aggressively controlled by your physicians. Your medical treatment sounds like it's optimized as well. Despite such measures, however, it sounds like you need some form of revascularization (either angioplasty with stents or coronary artery bypass grafting). I can't comment on your expected survival rate since I don't have much information about your medical history but don't despair yet; there may be options for you. We are working on a number of new techniques of revascularization and medical treatment for coronary artery disease here at the Cleveland Clinic and I'm happy to help you investigate such options. If you are able to travel to Cleveland, then I think you should consider coming to our institution for a thorough reevaluation. We would need to view all copies of your cardiac catheterization films and your medical records if you came here. Dr. Patrick Whitlow is an interventional cardiologist here who specializes in treating patients like yourself - his phone number is 216-444-1746 if you would like to make an appointment. If you are unable to travel to Cleveland, then please write back and let me know what major metropolitan area you live near or what major teaching hospital is close to where you live. I will be happy to help you with a referral to another hospital, if you would like that.

I hope you find this information useful. Information provided in the heart forum is for general purposes only. Only your physician can provide specific diagnoses and therapies. Please feel free to write back with additional questions.

If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please call 1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at www.ccf.org/heartcenter. The Heart Center website contains a directory of the cardiology staff that can be used to select the physician best suited to address your cardiac problem.

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