Can Impact trauma cause heart attack?

[scurvy]

wondering if u can get a heart attack from impact to the shoulder region , especially in the elderly, an whether said heart attack could last 2 or 3 days before causing actual death.

[LittleLate]

This may not be relevant anymore but I went though something similar recently.  Per her autopsy there was 60% plaque in her heart.  When she fell, the heart would have hit against her rib case. This could have dislodged some plaque from one spot in her artery. That created a wound at that spot.  The wound would begin to clot and create a scab.  2 to 3 days later the scab would be big enough to create a block in the artery and stop blood flow. As you know, if blood flow is not restore in time, it leads to death.

[kenkeith]

Yes, that would be a possible scenario: physical injury, mental and physical stress from the injury, pre-existing conditions and then cardiac arrest.

If your mother was in the hosptal setting for chest pain, vital signs would have been monitored and signs and symptoms would have/should have/could have alerted appropriate medical care.  In retrospect it is highly likely the chest pain was heart related, but only a competent doctor's exam and appropriate tests would establish a diagnosis.  I simple blood test would have shown heart related muscle damage for an acute MI.

[scurvy]

so ur saying the shoulder impact when she complained briefly of chest pain was the time of the initial heart attack an 3 days later when she died was the actual heart failure as a result of this heart attack?

so if she had been taken to hospital an treated soon after the impact could the heart failure have been prevented completely?

[kenkeith]

You may be confused by not distinquishing between heart failure and heart attack.  Heart attack medically termed myocardial infarction (MI) is a condition that damages (necrosis) heart cells (can be severe or mild).  The condition happens when heart cdells do not get sufficient blood/oxygen. The damaged heart cells impairs left ventricle contractions and can cause heart failure.  Heart failure is measured by the percentage of blood pumped out into circulation with each heartbeat. ..below 29% is heart failure...50% to 70 is considered normal.

A heart attack (MI) can happen without the classic symptoms of chest pain, etc.  But the unknown (asymptomatic) MI can cause heart failure.  Heart failure can be symptomatic (fliud in the lungs, shortness of breath, muscle fatigue, etc. or there may not be any symptoms until there is a massive heart attack, heart arrest and death...there is an estimate  there are about 26% of the heart problem population that do not realize they are in heart failure mode, and perform their normal activities without a problem...then one day there is a massive MI.

[scurvy]

are u a doctor, or someone whos had a lot of heart attacks?

[kenkeith]

A heart attack can be silent, meaning there are no symptoms until death or symptoms of heart failure.  Heart failure from a heart attack could indicate there had been heart muscle damage and the heart could not adequately pump a sufficient supply of blood to the system....the heart will enlarge and the enlarged heart can cause an arrhythmia and heart arrest.

I had a silent heart attack sometime prior to 5 years ago, and impaired pumping contractility caused the receiving blood from the lungs backed up and fluid leaked into lung tissues (edema).  Congested heart failure and its sympoms were the only warning I ever had....no chest pains, shortness of breath, etc.  The heart failure was associated with the underlying cause of aschemia (blocked coronary vessels).

Your mother may have had an enlarged heart due to stress, overweight, etc. and an enlarged heart can result in irregular heartbeats and death.

[scurvy]

This was about my mother.
She was 77 years old an under a lot of stress an overweight an lately she was fallin down when doin housework or walkin on the road. Just before she died she fell down hard in the house an hit her shoulder, cos she was overweight I could'nt lift her up. When she hit her shoulder she complained of chest pain but i didn't take it seriously cos she never had a history of heart problems or hypertension as far as I knew (an our family doctor confirmed this).
I called her brother an we lifted her up, and after a while she could walk again but with a tilt to the side. I told him to take her to hospital but she didn't want to, she was stubborn. So she went to the brothers place so they could take care of her better than I could.
she was alright for another 2 days talking an walking around as far as i know. but on night of the 3 day she had gotten worse suddenly an they couldn't wake her up an she was breathing funny an by the time they called an ambulance she wasn't even breathing.
By the time they reached the hospital she was pronounced dead.

The autopsy revealed she has had previous minor heart attacks about 6 months previously, that have gone undetected by the family doctor, an her arteries were clogged 60% and cause of her death was a heart attack (ischaemic hearty failure).

so thats why I was wondering whether the impact to the shoulder would initiate such a heart attack, but she might be fairly normal for a couple of days an suddenly die 3 days later??? is this possible? wouldn't the heart attack be immediately fatal?

[kenkeith]

I don't believe the direct effect of a shoulder impact could cause a heart attack, but the traumatic experience could cause a heart attack for a vulnerable individual, and if there were a heart attack at that time an individual could succumb 2 or 3 days later...may involve pre-existing conditions.

[scurvy]

i meant an impact to the shoulder, and if the heart attack can initiate at that moment an if actual death would occur 2 or 3 days later??

[kenkeith]

An impact to the hert can cause myocardial contusion if the impact is against a steering wheel and blunt object.  Yes, actual death can happen with arrhythmia (electrical conduction disturbance).