Any one had a cardiac catherization?
 

Going in tomorrow morning for a cardiac catherization. Went for a routine stress test last week. Cardiologist didn't like what he saw. I had no symptoms no problems at all. I'm 44. Thin. Blood pressure is always low. Im in the gym a few times a week, Im a fanatical healthy eater. Very active. So all of this came as bit of a shock to me. Guess thats what I get for taking care of myself. :rolleyes:
Hopefully they wont find anything wrong. Not too worried but my worst fear is that if they do find anything, is that the doctor tells me I have to cut back on my activities. I'm not ready to relax yet!

Anyone here had this done and what was the results?

I had a similar procedure during a heart attack several years ago. I would not worry too much about the procedure it is painless there is a little discomfort and depending where they go in from (Groin or arm) you need to be careful not to rupture the incision. During my procedure they put in a stent and my doctor did not ask me to cut my activities I think they encourage a healthly lifestyle like you have been practicing. Good luck and I hope they don't find a damn thing.

Hope all goes well, can't offer any comments on the procedure but I would guess that living healthy is certainly to your advantage.

I've had 3 caths done, no big deal. this comes from a guy who had a full arrest at age 39, I just turned 53 with no problems. the biggest PITA is that you have to lay flat for several hours after to keep the artery form leaking!

Hope they find nothing.

Good luck!

How did you feel during your stress test? What exactly was it that he didn't like about the test? How is your cholesterol? I'd want more answers first.

Can't help, but good luck. Hope they find nothing.

What's your family history like?

Hi Vinny,

I've had plenty of caths done in the past and they are nothing to worry about. A bit of a sore groin from the post procedure weight they use to stem the flow but that's about it (if that's the way they enter).

I'm only 35 and have had 12 years of heart failure culminating in a heart transplant a couple of years ago. I'm healthy as now, very active and loving life. In fact I now compete the world transplant games in swimming :).

No matter what the results show good (fingers crossed) or bad I'm sure that you will pull through with flying colours. Stay positive and good luck!

cheers,

Its a pretty routine procedure now days and can be a better option that cracking your chest open. If they find something, they typically can balloon and stint the area that is narrowing. As Jay said above you have to lay still with sand bags on you so the artery stops bleeding.

Good luck

Good luck, be patient(get it) and leave the sandbag on the acess site, or the nurse leaning on it, for at least as long as it says. If you have siblings they should have cardiac evaluations

Vinny,
No symptoms or risks? You were stress tested for? Sounds a little weird. If it's a diagnostic the actual procedure is only 10 minutes at most.... Bring a book.

Thanks for the words of encouragement guys.:)

Well had the procedure done this morning. Everything went well. doctor found no problems. Cardio system is in excellent shape. Said there must have been a false positive with the stress test.
The test wasnt bad at all . The only painful part was pulling the tape holding the IV off my arm. Although now my groin is sore as hell since the local wore off. :eek:

Pete, the stress test was just part of a routine checkup. My doctor wanted one because I had never had one before and at my age, I was about due. No symptoms, or family history.

How old are you? What's your family history like with heart disease? I smell a rat...

He's 44. I'd smell a rat, too, if some doc ordered a test and then told me there was a bug in the initial stress test.

I'm not a cardiologist but I've never heard of performing Cardiac stress tests as a routine screening in a 44 year old with no serious history of heart disease and no cardiac symptoms. Maybe if Vinman was a couch potato and told his doc he was going to train for a marathon or something.

I wonder if Vinman's doc happens to own the stress testing center.

Read this book. It's a true story and I knew some of the players. It will scare the crap out of you.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1242430153.jpg

A few people I know have questioned the need also. Including my sister who is a RN and others I know in the med field.
Moses, my original visit to ny regular MD was for swollen lymph nodes in my neck. He ran blood work also. My LDL came back borderline. But he had scheduled the stress test prior to the blood work results. I had requested to take the stress test again. But they said my insurance wouldn't cover a retest. So between the LDL and the result of the stress test, that was the reason for the cath. It was a suggestion that I do it, I wasn't pressured into it. But of course the cardiologist that did the stress test also performed the cath( coincidence, huh?:rolleyes:)

There is no indication for routine "screening" stress testing in asymptomatic individuals. Likewise, cardiac catheterization in an asymptomatic individual based on an unindicated stress test of dubious value is bordering on criminal. I have seen completely healthy young people killed as a consequence of this kind of behavior. Your 10 year risk of a CAD associated event is probably around 1-2% based on what you have stated.

At least you know now that you are healthy for the time being.

I'm starting to favor going to a different doc for each new problem. I'll keep track of my records and let them guess. There doesn't seem to be any penalty for that except life time limits. I'm 63, so Medicare kicks in soon and that won't be an issue. It will be yours. :D

What he said. Read the book Coronary. And find a new doctor. Stat.

Ive been going to this same doctor for 15 yrs since my other guy retired. Really never questioned him until this. But the more you guys say it, Im a little supicious. The cardiologist, Ive never dealt with until the stress test. Maybe its time to look elsewhere.

Moses what are your office hours??:D

Milt, I thinks thats a good idea going to different doctors. My next visit will be with someone new.

If there were EKG changes during the stress test and he has moderate risk factors, then I would expect the next step to be a nuclear stress test to test for ischemia. To go straight to the cath lab with the same Dr who ordered the stress test is a concern. I too would recommend a second opinion from a second cardiologist.

Stress ECG's are reasonable screening tools for evaluting symptoms suggestive of advanced, obstructive coronary artery disease such as angina or unexplained shortness of breath in individuals at intermediate risk of disease (Baye's theorem). They are virtually worthless and potentially harmful in low risk individuals (false positive far more likely than true positive). They can be just as useless in very high risk populations (high pre-test probability of disease) because of the risk of false negatives. Stress tests as predictors of future coronary events (MI) in unselected patients are virtually worthless because the majority of MI's are due to disruption of inflamed, non-obstructive atherosclerotic narrowings that are completely undetectable by this modality. In fact, we currently do not have practical tools to detect these "vulnerable plaques" at all.

Steve, Moses, thanks for all this info. I wish I would have posted this two weeks ago.:mad:

You wouldn't benefit from a visit to Moses unless you're preggars :D

I find this infuriating. They put you at very real risk for no reason. Cardiac caths are not simple tests. They are invasive and things can go wrong. Terribly wrong. I'm glad you're OK.

Unethical doctors scare me far more than incompetent ones. I wonder how many unnecessary caths your cardiologist performs every year. How many of those go on to get unnecessary bypass surgery?

It's a little much too not allow a CV doc to stress test and cath. That is more dangerous in my mind as a patient would get treated as a test result rather than in a context of his/her symptoms lifestyle etc.

The best way to find a good doc is to ask hospital (in this case cath lab or noninvasive testing) staff who they/families go see and why. The original stress test reasoning is suspect given the details provided here.

We know some things about vulnerable plaque and while not directly testable (per lesion), can give fairly good assessments of overall risk of events.

I agree Art, the point that I didn't convey clearly is that I would have preferred a second opinion from a different doc other than the one who ordered the stress test. I understand that it is standard practice for the cardiologist to perform both the stress test and cath.

I don't know that you need a second opinion in this case. Not to pile on, but there is no medical literature to support screening stress tests. A 44 year old man without comorbidities should not have a stress test performed (much less a cath...holy crap!) unless there are concerning symptoms present. Heck, depending on what your cholesterol panel looks like, you probably don't even need statins at this point...

Weird story.