heart attacks?

Question

i am a bit confused can someone helo me out. here's the thing if someone goes to the hospital for a panic attack and a doctor finds 100% blockage and decides to do a stent the following day is that considered a heart attack?! the thing is my mil a while back had a stress induced panic attack of course caused my the daughter in laws and she said she had chest pains. she went to a cardiologist after a few months of chest pains who did test and sent her home. later the next day she had a panic attack and went to the e.r. the doctor said it was panic but during routine exams for complaints found 100% blockage. they then waited til the next day and did a stent and sent her home. now they are saying she had a heart attack but the doctor said she almost did so who's correct?! my dad had a heart attack at 31 and i've inherited a few heart problems myself and we go to cardio doctors normally but she doesn't. i'm confused.

Answer 1

Just had that happen to me, 80% blockage in the LAD, and had Stent fitted, you will soon find out how expensive Plavix and Lipitor is, go for RX drugs if you can, I think the Plavix was $198 for 30, and the Lipitor $150 for 30, the Plavx may only be required for 6 months to a year, until the body normalises around the Stent
Wish you all well
Oh, not a TRUE heart attack in the strict medical sense, but can kill just the same

Answer 2

A "heart attack" is not an accurate medical term, so it means different things to different people. In general, this term means that one or more coronary arteries were blocked sufficiently to cause a portion of the heart muscle to become damaged due to a lack of oxygen. The amount of damage needed to call something a heart attack is not defined.

So, the question is: How much damage was caused by the blockage? If one of the smaller arteries is blocked 100%, its possible that there was still enough blood flow from other arteries to prevent any damage from occurring, but a 100% blockage in an artery usually causes at least some damage - maybe permanent, maybe temporary So, if the doctors have given you two different stories, it probably means that any damage caused by the blockage is relatively minor or even temporary, and one doc considers this amount of damage a mild "heart attack" and the other doc thinks that this amount of damage is not quite enough to call it a heart attack.

The doctors can be asked to describe the type and extent of damage to give a more accurate picture of the situation.

Answer 3

Women present with way different symptoms than men do. We do not necessarily have the crushing pain a man would, nor anything like any pain in some cases.

Whether the docs agree or not, I am sure your MIL had a form of heart attack and there is damage.

Panic Attacks could very well be heart attacks in women.

As has been stated the term "heart attack" means different things to different docs, and is a very broad term for any thing that happens with the heart.

Answer 4

You're confused? I'm confused just reading this. I've had 95% blockages and had several heart attacks some silent, one not. I have seven stents with four angioplasties and an implanted defibrillator. Get a good cardilogist and follow his every word. See him often and go for stress tests.

Answer 5

There are four coronary arteries, if they are all 100% blocked then you must die. If one artery is 100% blocked, as in your case then one stint would be installed and hopefully unblock that artery. As to the heart attack, if any damage was done do to the blockage, this would show-up in a blood test (enzyme) they would do at time of incident. This would define extent of heart attack.

Answer 6

Lose weight, eat less animal fat.