coming up on ten year aniversery of my heart attack and was wondering if there is a time frame that stents normally last, blood works always normal to good and feel fine.... opps dropped my cigg..... thanks in advance :-)
2006-10-10 12:50:43 · 4 answers · asked by steven d 3 in Health ➔ Diseases & Conditions ➔ Heart Diseases
LOL, you better be dropping that cig! I work in the cath lab and I've seen stents that lasted 15+ years. If you keep your cholesterol down and be good!! You shouldn't have a problem. Now if you had by-pass surgery, 10 years is when the grafts start clogging back up with junk... No good. But then again, you just get a stent to pop it back open and yer back to eating cheeseburgers and beer in no time!
2006-10-10 12:59:09 · answer #1 · answered by biology_freak 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A stents usefulness is continually diminished after the first several months to a year until the interior of the artery epithelializes (grows skin over) the stent. The stent then becomes integral the wall of the artery. It is impossible to "wear a stent out." On the other hand it is entirely possible to "re-stenose" a stent (grow new plaques) that are near blocking the artery again. Additionally a stent is only 10mm long, less than a half inch; while your main coronary arteries (3 ) have about 12" each of artery length. There is absolutely nothing preventing any other place from getting blocked with plaques too.
I wished I had a dollar for every time we discover a "silent" heart attack. The patient has about half of their heart muscle left to pump blood. All the while their blood work looked perfect. Enjoy the smokes - I'll call it job security - and you aren't hurting anyone but yourself. A quick death is a blessing. Its the maiming that seems so miserable...a crippling event that leaves you too weak to even wipe yourself.
Good luck.
2006-10-10 15:04:13 · answer #2 · answered by c_schumacker 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Stents will last forever... and you shouldn't be smoking with high heart problems. Adds fuel to the fire!!!
2006-10-10 12:53:43 · answer #3 · answered by Stefanie S 2 · 1⤊ 2⤋
not that i am aware of con grats!!!you dont need ciggs ....
2006-10-10 12:53:00 · answer #4 · answered by sissy 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋