failed stents and bypass surgery

My mother had quadruple bypass surgery done in november 2008, In February she had a stress test and the test showed that all 4 bypasses were blocked.  two of them 100%  and the other two 50% 90% .  They tried to do catherization and we're able to put two stents in.  Now my mom has been having heartburn for about a month now and her last stress test last month came out fine.  On monday she was admitted to the hospital and they told her that she had a mild heart attack and that the stents were blocked. They  tried to do the catherization again and we're unsuccessful.  The doctor said that because of her stature she is 4 foot 11 inches that it was very difficult to reach the stents.  and that he needs to order a special cathether to do attempt it again and if it is unsuccessful she would need surgery again.  I guess my question is, is this something common and should i be looking for a second opinion.

[Encephalomalcia]

Most likely what happened after her bypass surgery is that the bypass did not heal in properly and dissolved.  This happened to my mom and they had to put a balloon in which worked for a numbers of year and then she needed a stent.  Stents are like band-aids is the way a heart surgeon put it to me.  It buys time, but does not fixed the problem.  Once stents get plugged up with cholesterol, it is hard to fix them through the catheter.  Hopefully, they will have better success next time.  If not, she will most likely have to have bypass surgery again, which is very unfortunate.  If she does need bypass surgery again make sure that you check to make sure the surgeon has a good track record of sewing the bypasses in correctly.  When my mom had her bypass surgery, we heard over and over "the surgeon was the best at sewing the bypasses in" from the hospital.  However, two bypasses did not heal and dissolved.  A question that you can ask the doctors is if the arteries are rerouting on their own.  Sometimes the arteries when blocked, reroute in some people and a bypass is not needed. This happened to my grandfather.  With stem cell research, it is clear how this works and in some countries they are able to inject the stem cells to grow the new arteries.  It is not being done here in the US to my knowledge, but you can ask the question to see when it will be here.  In the meantime, is she on blood thinners?  She does not need a blood clot trying to move through those blocked arteries now.   Which artery is 100% and which arteries are the 90% and 50%.  The 50% is not that much of a concern.  Cholesterol medication may be able to help that one.  If the 100% is in the main left artery, then something will need to be done soon.  Ask many questions to the surgeons to get as much information as you can.    

[BrokenPen]

Unfortunately, blocked vessels are well known complication of the bypass surgery. Stents too are expected to get blocked as soon as 24 hours from their insertion, especially if the patient doesn’t take anticoagulants regularly. Clopidogrel is the drug of choice to be given after stent insertion and is continued minimally for 6 months, and it has been proved that it keeps stents open. I guess your mother wasn’t taking her anticoagulants optimally.
I agree with the doctor in that there are different sizes for the stent, depending on the length of the patients, and as he said, if the stents failed to work, there’s no other alternative than surgery.
However, it might benefit your mother to discuss with the doctor the option of drug-eluting stents. These are stents that slowly release drugs which prevent cell proliferation and clot formation inside the stent.
The vessel that is occluded by 50% should cause no concern, for the heart muscle gets only affected if it’s occluded by 75%.
If the vessel that is occluded by 90% is not a major one, you can think of leaving to develop collaterals. These are small arteries that develop before the narrowed part, bypass it to supply the affected part of the heart. It’s a slowly developing process and depends on the activity of your mother. If she is able to move without exhausting herself, she might develop them.
Sorry for being so long. I hope your mom will get better soon. Keep us posted and best of luck.