I in the process of testing for iscemic coronary disease. This is new

Wendy,
I am waiting to have a coronary calcium CT scan to check for possible blockages; due to my night time shortness of breath and rapid heart beats. My heart is good, but I thought I would check the arteries just in case. Part of me wants to know and part of me doesn't. I read some where, some times the test can show more build up than you have or less build up than you have. So. . .

I have something called INOCA - ischemia with non-obstructed coronary arteries. It's supposed to be rare, but I know of quite a lot of people who've gotten it either from Covid or from the vaccine. I got it from my first Covid vaccine, but it gets worse every time I get Covid.

Many people who have INOCA (sometimes called ANOCA - angina with non-obstructed coronary arteries, or more specifically microvascular dysfunction or vasospastic angina) don't show much of any results on standard cardiac tests. Mine showed up on my ECG and on the exercise stress test, but everything else was normal - X-ray, echocardiogram, coronary CT, MRI. The test that finally gave me a definitive diagnosis was provocative angiogram with coronary reactivity testing. That's because INOCA/ANOCA/MVD/VSA symptoms are a result of the arteries spasming shut rather than being blocked. The end result is similar - the heart is not getting oxygen - but since there are no blockages, treatment is different. It's supposedly a rare condition, but with Covid it's become more frequent.

Many cardiologists don't do provocative angiograms, and they may tell you it's too dangerous, but the big heart hospitals do them often, and for them it's no more dangerous than a regular angiogram. People who don't have INOCA etc won't react to the provocation agent (usually acetylcholine); people who do will have symptoms similar to what they usually get.

I hope you are able to get a good diagnosis and the right treatment for your condition. I'd love to know whether they find blockages in your case.

Many people who