Heart Attach

[Kelleysanderspk]

Could you explain the back wall of the heart and its function.  My physician told me from an Echo, it looks like mild damage to the back wall of my heart.  Said it could repair itself in time.  Stress test scheduled for January.  Mild heart attach.

[jrbon]

While I share all of what you said, I have to say that it is not the first time that I see similar statements from doctors, what makes me start thinking that there is an school of doctors that label as "heart attack" what has been other problem, otherwise I can´t understand those statements of "repair itself" that, as I said, I have heard several times in the last year.

Jesus

[ed34]

I have no idea what your Doctor is saying, or where his information is to make the statement of your muscle recovering. When anyone has a heart attack, a blockage shuts off blood supply to a part of the heart muscle and within about 30-40 minutes, most of that muscle dies and can never be revived. That's why they emphasise that you get to hospital very quickly if you feel chest pain. The saying is "time is muscle". Without treatment, the blockage won't suddenly clear itself but you can open collateral vessels which are natural bypasses. However, your echo was done at rest, which suggests this is not the case. A stress test is pointless if you ask me, it will simply clarify the echo findings. The way to tell if you have dead muscle is to have a perfusion scan. This involves being injected with an isotope which will be absorbed by living muscle, giving a nice glow on the scan images. Dark areas mean the muscle is not using oxygen, so is therefore necrotic. If there is a dull glow, then blood is arriving from somewhere but a tiny amount, just enough for the heart to function properly at rest. This indicates that a blockage requires intervention, such as stenting. I hope you can see that your Doctor has no way of telling if the muscle has died at the back of the heart or not. I assume he is referring to the rear left side, which usually indicates the left circumflex is blocked, or one of the marginal vessels branching from it. If dead heart muscle recovers, we wouldn't need all the stem cell research that is going on. I really hope they get to the bottom of your problem soon, and I am just responding to what your Doctor has said. No one knows the real problem without further appropriate tests.

[vienna13]

Welcome here!
Well I don’t think so anybody could explain that more than to say our heart is a wonderful ‘thing’ :)
It will repair itself if your doctor said so; he had seen your echo. Just keep the healthy lifestyle, and collect your energy with lots of walking for the Stress test. :)
Take care!