REQUIRE BYPASS SURGERY

[kayrenbrar]

Hi ,my name is Kiran .My father had a minor heart attack 4 days ago was taken to emergency . They performed an angiography which detemernined he will need quadriple bypass surgery. His LAD had an 85 % stenosis . Circumflex with a 90 % stenosis .origin of the second OM has 60% stenosis and third OM had an 70 % stenosis. The doctor advised with the complexity of my fathers disease it is best to do bypass surgery. This is a genetic problem , both my grandparents also had heart problems. i want to know if there is any alternative to bypass as we are afraid of the aftermath ( complications during and after surgery ). we would much rather go with the option of angioplasty but doctor did not reccomend it to us. please help. would appreciate a prompt reply as my father is still in hospital . need to make decision asap. thank you !

[kayrenbrar]

Hey thanks for your help . We have actually decided to go ahead with the bypass surgery as the doctor recommended in my fathers best interest . I hope all goes well without any complications . Thank you

[ed34]

There are so many things to take into consideration here. I will go through the most obvious ones with you first. You say your Father had a heart attack, but how is that possible with no 100% blockage? it doesn't make sense. You get a heart attack when a vessel is blocked completely. 90% sounds like a lot, but there is still 10% getting through and this wouldn't cause a heart attack. So, about stents or bypass. The decision is often made by the cardiologist based on his experience and confidence. If you feel strongly about having stents, then simply ask them to pass you onto someone with far more experience who can do it. If you go for stents and these block, then it may be more difficult to perform bypass and this is something to consider. It would leave you with no further options. If a bypass fails, then you still have the option of stents. However, as you rightly say, bypass is by far more traumatic. It has a much higher risk of infection and complications. So there really is a lot to think about. What would I do? well don't base your decisions on what I think, but I would push for the stenting and then get your Fathers lifestyle changed. It isn't necessarily genetic, it could be some bad habits (unhealthy ones) which generations have stuck to, such as smoking or bad diet.