Bypass or stents?

[Chalkster]

I am a 44yo male  6ft 6 tall and 225lbs with a strong family history of heart disease (father died at 51  from an MI , mother had triple bypass at 51 and dies at 60  with MI etc etc)

Four years ago I had chest pains and an angiogram found problems resulting is 3 stents. Recently I have been experiencing some chest pain and my doctor sent me for a nucleoid stress test  - about 20 mins after I cam off the treadmill I had a major heart attack with a clot that blocked two coronary arteries. luckily I was still in the hospital and they got me in time and cleared the clot as well as putting in another stent

The cardiologist says that I need  either a triple bypass or a whole bunch of stents in the next month ... triple bypass is his recommendation because of the restenosis I have had on the original stents,  but also tells me it is not an easy call because of my age etc. He has advised me to seek more info before I come to a final decision and apart from booking a couple of second opinions I have also been searching the internet and the relative advantages seem pretty balanced . if I was 15 yrs older then it looks like bypass would definitely be the favorite but since I am only 44 I was wondering if there are any other views or thoughts about my problem

[heartfluttersflyawayplz]

wow glad your ok now am to scared to have my stress/nuclear next week. as far as i know i have no problems but so stressed to do it and after reading what happen to you am really scared. am 49

[Encephalomalcia]

The surgeons I have spoke with in person said that in about 10 or 12 years there will be no more open heart surgery.  They are doing some heart surgeries now through a catheter, sometimes through the groin and sometimes through the neck.  The question to ask is if there are stents and you need surgery, can it be fixed in the future by a catheter?  Open heart surgery is a hard surgery to go through and there is risk no matter what age and how healthy all other organs are.  There is a risk of 1 in 5 dying from the surgery.  A person can only have 2 or 3 open heart surgeries in a lifetime. My mom could only have two and my uncle could only have three.  There is a lot of scar tissue and nodes that develop from open heart surgery.  Some people have complications a few months after surgery and survive a fatal heart attack. This has happened to friends of mine.  They felt terrific too great and had a fatal heart attack.  Take your time and research all you can first before open heart surgery.  There are a lot of new procedures coming out that the surgeons are doing now that are promising for the future.  

[piapeony]

hello, I have heard of a person having a triple bypass younger than that. I wish you luck