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Coronary artery disease - Can I seek preventive tests?
I have Coronary artery disease involving native coronary artery of native heart without angina pectoris. I had a heart attack in 2016 and the left side of my heart wasn't working and had 4 stents placed. I recently have had feelings of a heart attack and sometimes feel like something is going on. If I make an appt and they say it seems good, can I request a test to see how bad blockage may be? If they say no, can I just request to pay on my own and what test is this. I really want this. I want to be preventive and not wait for some other heart attack. Have any of you done this?
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An MRI, and angiogram, and a stress test with contrast dye (where you get a CT scan) are all possible ways to detect the extent of deposition of plaque.
I would think your cardiologist would be happy to prescribe tests for you, given your history.
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2 ReactionsI haven't asked for additional testing since I was first diagnosed with CAD through a CAC score of 600 about two years ago. I have the impression based on my own experience and what I've read on these forums that cardiologists have very different attitudes towards which tests to prescribe and when to prescribe them.
When they say it "seems good", what do they base that on? I think it's completely reasonable to ask about testing. In fact, I plan to ask for some kind of testing at my next appointment in 6 months. I want to learn about how it's progressing and catch any decline in heart function sooner than later. I don't want to wait until there is an acute problem.
Not sure about how to get the testing without a doctor's prescription. There are many independent companies now doing medical testing. However, CT coronary angiograms and nuclear stress tests I believe are pretty sophisticated and require exposure to radiation or radioactive materials. If an independent company did these, you'd probably want to investigate them thoroughly.
In your place, you might consider trying to find a cardiologist that has an aggressive prevention outlook. Not sure how you do that, though.
Good luck. Keep us posted.