Cardiac autopsy findings

  Dear Physician:
  My husband recently died due to cardiac arrest.  As an organ donor, he had an autopsy that revealed large areas of ischemic cardiac tissue.  Two weeks before he had an echo that only revealed a small area of ischemia due to a previous MI.  Also, he had a cath which did not show any additional ischemia.  Was all of this "new" ischemia due to the fatal event?  Is it possible to differentiate between newly infarcted and older ischemic tissue?  
  Many thanks,
  MDY, R.N.

[Cleveland Clinic, MD]

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Dear MDY,
Thank you for your follow-up question.  It is apparent that you still have a number of unanswered questions that are probably best handled by your husband's doctors.  I would recommend making an appointment to go in and sit down and discuss your concerns.  The will be able to give you better answers than I can over the internet.  Best wishes and my condolences as you go through this difficult period.
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.