Contrast dye and angina

Hi everyone:

Am not sure if this happened to anyone else.

I refused to have an angiogram because I was basically terrified of the statistics.

Instead I was offered an angioscan which means being injected with the same contrast dye that is used for an angiogram.

Within hours I started suffering with unstable angina which lasted about three weeks, and still now, I seem to be getting angina quite a lot.

I read somehwere that sometimes the contrast dye can cause some sort of problem if you do have clots, blockages and calcified stuff in the heart.

Anyone else suffered with more angina after an angiogram or angioscan?

Many thanks for replies
Kooky

[bzmed]

I did have some angina and arrythmias after a scan.  I was stented shortly there after and the angina and arrythmias have improved considerably after the stents.  Not sure how long it would have lasted if I had not been stented.

[Jack54]

I have never ever heard of the contrast dye doing anything but harming the kidneys. That is why your kidney function is tested before you can receive the dye. If the dye caused angina, I think it was due to anxiety or worry, which can definitely cause me to have unstable angina.

Bzmed  what type of scan did you have? I have had the 64 Slice Coronary Artery CT Scan. The same dye for this test is used for and angiogram (cath). Since you had a stent later, I think that maybe the scan showed blockages that caused a great deal of worry and anxiety for you. It surely does me.

Kooky, I have had nine caths and haven't died yet :) . Where are you reading these terrifying statistics?

[Kooky]

Stats for deaths occuring during angiogram are in most medical journals.  Also, here in the UK, the cardiologists have to tell you the risks.  My cardio said it was an extremely risky procedure and after reading how risky it is, I decided against it.  He gave me brochures from the 'British Heart Society and did also explain that a form of consent understanding all the risks would have to be signed etc...  There are many reasons why 1 in 1000 die during the procedure, could be due to the contrast dye causing problems with blood clots, blockages, could be a blood clot somewhere made unstable, strokes, and other reasons which I don't know of.......

I suppose if I had not read about it and if my cardio had not warned of the dangers, I would have had one by now.

[Jack54]

The American Heart Association

Heart Attack and Angina Statistics


2004 statistics for the United States show that coronary heart disease (CHD) is the single leading cause of death in America. CHD causes heart attack and angina.

Mortality — 452,327 deaths in the United States in 2004 (one of every 5 deaths).  
Incidence — 1,200,000 new and recurrent coronary attacks per year. (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Atherosclerotic Risk in Communities [ARIC] Study and Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS). About 38 percent of people who experience a coronary attack in a given year die from it.

Prevalence — 15,800,000 victims of angina (chest pain due to coronary heart disease), heart attack and other forms of coronary heart disease are still living (8,500,000 males and 7,200,000 females).
From 1994 to 2004 the death rate from coronary heart disease declined 33 percent, but the actual number of deaths declined only 18 percent.
  
Estimates are that 8,900,000 people in the United States suffer from angina.
An estimated 400,000 new cases of stable angina occur each year. (Framingham Heart Study, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

The estimated age-adjusted prevalence of angina in women age 20 and older was 3.9 percent for non-Hispanic white women, 4.3 percent for non-Hispanic black women and 3.3 percent for Mexican-American women. Rates for men in these three groups were 4.8, 3.4 and 2.3 percent, respectively.*
Among adults in the United States age 20 and older, the estimated age-adjusted prevalence of coronary heart disease for non-Hispanic whites is 9.4 percent for men and 6.0 percent for women; for non-Hispanic blacks, 7.1 percent for men and 7.8 percent for women; and for Mexican-Americans, 5.6 percent for men and 5.3 percent for women.*

*Based on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES, 1999–2004), National Center for Health Statistics and NHLBI. .

[Kooky]

thanks for all the stats.  

It all depends on how ill, the state of health of the person, and more.  My docs have been sympathetic and understanding and trying to accommodate because of previous ADRs to pharma products which in fact is the root cause of all the health problems now.

It is a question of balancing the risks and benefits and probabilities.  There are so many variables to be taken into account, and although I am not loosing any sleep over this, it needs careful deliberation.

[Jack54]

You are most welcome :)

[bzmed]

I had several scans within a couple of weeks - and I don't remember exactly what the last one was (I haven't gotten the actual written report and had so many tests with so many similar names) - I know it was some type of contrast scan....the interesting thing is ... I had had contrast dye before with no problems .... felt warm but no issues.  The last one they did - when the contrast went it it was hot....I really was beginning to think if it got any hotter I was going to fry.  Then when the technician pulled the IV needle out it spurted - he said - like an artery.  It freaked him out  - said he had never had that occur before.  The next day they did another heart cath (second in two weeks) and put three stents in the LAD.  There was something weird about that test.  I told him as soon as they finished the test (before he pulled the line out) how hot it had gotten and that it wasn't like the previous contrast tests they had done and then the IV spurt happened.  The palps and angina began about the time the test ended (before the IV spurt) so I don't know what it was.

[Kooky]

Well, I will find one of the links where it says definitely that some patient do experience angina or MI triggered by contrast dye and post it as soon as I find it.  In fact, it was from John Hopkins University, well one of the articles.  It really can and does trigger angina and sometimes a heart attack even months afterward.
Take care and try not to worry, and be careful.  

[Jack54]

I believe you. I just said that I had never heard of it before :)

While we are on the subject, some people are allergic to the common contrast dye that we are speaking of. Here is the kicker; there is a more gentle and healthier contrast dye available, but guess what? It cost more, even much more maybe, don't know.