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Scared for a heart Cath

I had an EKG and was told i had a Left Bundle Bunch Block, which i didn't have 2 years ago.  They then did a thalium stress test and they said my left side of my heart has a perfusion of 44% instead of 55%.  Now they want to do a heart cath.  Will a LBBB cause this to be observed on a stress test.  They say they are checking for blockages.  I hav no sypmptoms and had the EKG just because i was getting ready for a knee scope cause i hurt my knee.  Please help, i'm kinda scared of this cath, the first DR i saw scared the ---- out of me.  Thanks
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367994 tn?1304953593
LBBB is blockage of the Left Bundle Branch.  LBB is the pathway down the septum (wall separating Chambers) that passes electrical impulses that activate heart cells to enable the heart chamber to contract and pump blood.   A blockage can be temporary. occasional and cause the heart to skip a beat, etc.  Usually benign and of no medical significance.

The percentage of perfusion may indicate some blockage of the heart artery, but has no relative association with electrical impulses. Generally, before there is a risky intervention of an angiogram there should be some evidence of artery blockage greater than 70% and symptoms that medication does not successfully treat.  

You need to get another opinion.  It is estimated about 33% of angiograms (cath) was unnecessary.  Based on your information posted you do not need a cath angiogram.
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Avatar universal
I was thrown into sort of the same situation with my boyfriend. He woke up one day and out of the blue was having a heart attack. They rushed him to the hospital and the first ER doctor we saw said that there was nothing wrong they just wanted to run some test to make sure he was not getting sick. The next thing i now they are sending up to the the Cath Lab because he is having a heart attack. So I understand you being scared but if they want to check and see if there are any blockages I would let them because if you are going to be laying on the table for them to scope your knee you do not want to have any problems with your heart just a problem with the knee. Do not be too scared sometimes I think doctors need to be put in our shoes when they tell us stuff like that so that they can see what it feels like. I know when they took my boyfriend to the Cath lab I was by myself in the waiting room and the nurse comes out to get me and says that the doctor should have already been out to talk to me and did not know why I had not already been talked to then he puts me in one of the counseling rooms and has the video of the procedure running and does not tell me anything else. So sometimes Doctors are just like that. Hopefully everything will turn out for the best and I wish you the best on both procedures.
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