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Questions posted in the
Heart Forum have been answered by doctors from The Cleveland Clinic Foundation.
Question Title: Potential Heart Atteack From WorrY!Forum: The Heart Forum
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Someone REALLY needs to answer my question. A cardiologist has told me that I have possible coronary artery spasm. i have suffered from chest pain for years (I'm 24) and have had a normal catheterization. MY cardiologist, along with every ER doctor I've ever talked to, reassures me that the liklihood of dying from spasm is remote...Well....I took a little look at your library and now the words, "sudden death cannot be ruled out" are burning their way into my brain. What's the deal here? Am I going to die or what? I don't want to have the catheterization where it spasms on purpose and I've tried calcium blockers and they do not work..all that works is beta-blockers,Xanax and nitro. IF I'M GOING TO DIE I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW!
______ Dear Anne, thank you for your question. I cannot answer the question about the likelihood of sudden death in this forum - as you read in the introduction, we only provide general information and do not make diagnoses nor predict prognoses. However, if you have normal coronary arteries and you have chest pain due to coronary spasm, a certain ECG abnormality called ST-segment elevation has to be present when you present with ongoing chest pain. If this has not been documented, then I suspect that the diagnosis of spasm is presumptive. There are certain medications that can be given during a cardiac catheterization to provoke spasm, so you should ask your cardiologist if that was done. Finally, I suggest that you address your question to your own cardiologist.
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
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