Wondering if it is angina or indigestion

[hse55]

I am a 31 yr old male who had a stent placed in a bridged LAD artery in august. At the time I was experiencing shortness of breathe, short minor  pains in shoulder and chest, I also had sypmtoms that mimicked indigestions or IBS. I went through a few trips to the doctors that all diagnosed me with anxiety and depression before the cardiologist ordered a angioplasty. All went well for a while and I felt great.  Lately I have been experiencing symptoms that I do not know if they are angina or not. I have one acute pain that is right to the left of my sternum and comes and goes. I also feel like I have something going on with my stomach and can occasionally see the pulse in my stomach. I do feel like I am out of breathe sometimes but I can always catch a full breathe. I went back to the cardio and she put me on a nitrate to see if that would solve the pain in my chest. It has not. I was wondering if it is possible to have a stent placed and for that stent to be closed back up by the heart muscle. Or is this actual anxiety now or a possible GI problem. Any help or similar experiences would be greatly appreciated. Oh yeah, BP and pulse on average are 115/75 and 66, respectively.

[kenkeith]

You should get an CT scan 54-slice angiogram.  The test will include lungs, pulmonary artery for embolisms. The scan also includes the area below the heart.  This test is more inclusive than a cath angiogram, and includes the entire anatomy of the vessel.  The cath only views the lumen of the 4 main coroanry arteries for blockage!

Yes, there can be restenosis of the stent implant.  In can happen within a few days or a year or longer.  The probability does decrease after about a year for blood clots with the proper medication.

[Tonyc]

I was diagnosed with bridging of the LAD also. This was in 2000 of course this was after a few years of being told that I had no cardiac problems, that it was stress and anxiety. Then it was not cardiac , so of course it had to now be gastrointestinal/stomach problems. I was treated with medications for about 2 years for the pain that was in fact being caused by the bridging,  with no relief. Yes I was symtomatic, having pain almost constantly. In November of 2002 I underwent open heart surgery to "deroof" the bridging and due to the narrowing of the LAD from the bridging the surgeon did a bypass.  All was good and almost 100% pain free.  In July of 2003 while working on the computer I started to have severe chest pain. I called 911 and was taken to the Emergency room. They ran all the usual tests and all came back negative for cardiac problems. Within minutes of them telling me this all hell broke loose and the chest pain returned and was very severe.. The doctor ran yet another EKG and then went into panic mode as he stated that he had never seen anything like it. He had me transfered to another hospital immediately.  Come to find out I had a massive heart attack while lying in the Emergency room. The Infarction left me with 50% damage to my heart and a 14% EF. They believe that the heart attack was due to Vaso-spasming. It is now 2009 and I am being treated for prinzmetal angina and heart failure. I have pain every day and a typical day consists of my daily heart medications and  I use about a half a bottle of Nitro tabs daily some days even more. Yes, once again they say that it is not cardiac but stomach problems. Once again like I told them, The stomach tests will be normal, which they were. Well gee it must be a gallblatter issue... Not!! as I told them.. which again those tests came back normal also.. So now it must be Cardiac... lol... That's what I have been telling them for years now...I would have them check you for Prinzmetal angina, from what I am hearing now it is pretty common for people with bridging...  Be persistant with them and ask lots of questions.....Best of luck to you.
Tclark9208  

[Tonyc]

Oh and they now are telling me that they haven't any clue now how to treat me. They tell me I'm a train wreck.. I have been treated by at least 6 cardiologists and they all have told me the same thing..

Tclark9208