Am I a candidate for a CCTA?

Posted by bobtrev @bobtrev, Sep 21 9:27am

I am 81. I had 3 stents put in my LAD artery two years ago. I was told my arteries are narrow and I was not a candidate for bypass surgery. To make a long story short, after he inserted two stents, I had a full blown heart attack in recovery and a third was inserted.

I feel pretty good but am very apprehensive, if not paranoid. The cardiologist who did the procedure is very renowned, but also very flippant, as is my non-invasive cardiologist, whom I have seen for about 25 years.

My last Echocardiogram was good, I have no damage, and an improvement over a year ago. But, I understand that it does not show how much blockage there is. So, I am wondering if a CCTA would tell me how things look and give me some peace of mind.

BTW, we live in nice area with a good hospital, yet, it takes about 2-3 months to get an appointment with a cardiologist, if I get the nerve to get a second opinion, at, say, UCLA.

Does anyone have a suggestion?

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welshgirl | @welshgirl | Sep 22 10:27am

Hi Bob, From what I understand your very best option would be a CCTA with a Cleerly analysis. If you live in the US, that is. We are in Canada and not yet available here yet.

bobtrev | @bobtrev | Sep 22 2:35pm

Thank you very much!

gerrycf | @gerrycf | Sep 26 11:04am

Do you have any symptoms? Or just apprehensive? If you feel fine....maybe a noninvasive test. Truthfully, I've had so many invasive and even my echocardiograms are normal and only a few of my EKGs were "borderline" and doctors tell me - "you look good!" and I finally had an MRI cardiac stress test and it revealed why I had all my symptoms still after 4 stents LAD. So I'm a big proponent ... if you still have symptoms.... make sure the doctors are listening.. and hearing... Good luck

bobtrev | @bobtrev | Sep 26 3:28pm

Hi Jerry,
Thanks for your response. My symptoms are minor, but they are still worrying me. I do have a dry cough, and a little shortness of breath now and then as well as some very minor pains, like little electrical shocks in my back. At the same time the Echo looks really good and there has been no heart damage. Prior to the stents being inserted in my LAD, the cardiologist tried to stent another one (I forget which one) the day before and ruptured it and called in the surgical team. The surgeon said the artery was too narrow for surgery, another disconcerting comment. That rupture resolved itself. So, maybe the CCTA with a Cleerly is the next step. Thanks again.