Angiogram

[green_been]

I went for my EKG stress test and a nuclear stress test. The tests indicated a blockage. I am now waiting for an angiogram. They put me on drugs after the test. I am on 1.25mg Monocor, 5mg Norvasc, 10mg Crestor as well as ASA 81mg - one per day. Now I wait for Angiogram. I am quite freaked out. So I am scheduled for an angiogram on Feb 5th. They tell me there are risks in this test. The risk is 1 in 1000 people die, stroke or have a heart attack during this proceedure. My question is this, Should I get a 64-slice Coronary CT Angiograph​y? This machine has no risk and will give them the same answers. This test is not covered by our health care insurance. It will cost me $1300. I am not opposed to paying that extra money to eliminate risk. What are your opinions? .

[ed34]

Still odd though. I mean the coronary arteries likely get more of a bashing than any other arteries, so I would assume that evolution would toughen those up to handle it. I've looked into research with so many claimed causes and I do believe some are just coincidence. I say that because when you lay the claims across many nations, the outcomes are not the same. One claim in particular does seem plausible and likely to me though and that's stress. I think that age old comment "stop worrying or you'll give yourself a heart attack" is quite valid. After the last world war, families all pulled together and helped each other out which seemed to reduce stress levels. Deaths from heart problems started to decline as a result. I remember as a child you could leave your front door wide open and be away all day. Now you wouldn't dream of it. Society keeps us under a lot of stress but I think we just don't realise it any more. I read a study done on Chimpanzees which are very closely genetically matched to us. Studies were done across numerous zoos. Animals with an enclosure which enabled their normal social structure resulted in no heart disease. Animals in inadequate enclosures developed heart disease quite rapidly. You would think that with the cost of treating heart disease, governments would try to make society a more pleasing place to live.

[green_been]

Thanks alot for all the reassuring words. It does help. Does anyone know how long a stent will last. Are there any stats. What if you do everything right , take the pills, exercise, proper diet. How long could it last. Do you know anyone who has had one for a long time with no issues?

[ed34]

I've got 5 that are fully opened still from 2007 and no sign of any problems. They look perfect still. I do however have 5 that blocked with scar tissue quite quickly. If a stent does block with scar tissue they can usually slip another stent inside it but that isn't possible in my case because they are in a row, slightly overlapping. The ones that are open should last the rest of my natural life now because a new artery lining has successfully grown inside the stent. They now use slightly different techniques which is why the last ones have remained healthy. They used to inflate them and keep them inflated for quite some time before releasing the balloon. However, due to poor results, they assumed it was causing too much artery stress, making it more likely to form scar tissue. Now they inflate harder, stretching the artery more, but not for very long. when you look at my artery with the open stents, you cant see them, you have to look at previous images to determine their location because they look so perfect.

[green_been]

So I am scheduled for an angiogram on Feb 5th. My doctor say he expects a 70% - 90% blockage will be found. he said it is ok to continue to work out moderatley, not like I was doing before.  I am on 1.25mg Monocor, 5mg Norvasc, 10mg Crestor as well as ASA 81mg - one per day. If I was in danger of a heart attack before I was put on these drugs, am I less in danger of having an attack while on these drugs? I have noticed that I do not get any chest pain at all now while exersising. Is it possible for these drugs to cause the blockage to be less than it was before after 3 weeks of taking them?

[green_been]

In 1977 Dolf Bachmann had the 1st ever angioplasty with no stent and he is still doing good. If no stent has worked so good for him, why are we using stents?

[ed34]

Because you are picking an individual that it worked for as an example, and omitting the hundreds which it didn't work for. If you balloon an artery without using a stent to hold the artery open after then there is a 90%+ chance that it will again collapse. That's why the Stent was invented and used, to overcome that problem.