New to the board - MI event w Cardiac Arrest. 3 years later…

Hi everyone, I’m Greg, new to the board.

Three years ago I had a sudden cardiac arrest, six minutes, in the middle of the night while I was asleep. I was fortunate my spouse happened to be in the room and got paramedics there in time.

The last three years have been a journey trying to make sense of what happened. I was 54 years old. 170 lbs. Reasonably fit. In hindsight looking over a decade of annual lab results my LDL cholesterol in the 150s was the main outlier. A calcium score six months prior to my MI showed a value of 1.

Since then I’ve had a battery of tests, most recently a CT angiogram with contrast, including a Cleerly plaque analysis. The angiogram itself was fairly reassuring — most arteries were clear, with my LAD at roughly 35% blockage and the rest less than that.

What stopped me in my tracks was the Cleerly analysis: 93% of my plaque is non-calcified and only 7% is calcified. My cardiologist said that ratio is a bigger concern than the plaque volume itself, and I’ve been down the research rabbit hole ever since trying to understand the significance of non-calcified vs. calcified plaque.

My cardiologist pivoted significantly as a result of the hard/soft plaque findings and wants to move me off 20mg Lipitor to 20mg of Crestor + 10mg of Zetia. Repatha is on the table if after 30 days my LDL’s aren’t in the mid 30’s. Today they are mid 50’s.

After dozens of appointments, this feels like the piece that might actually explain things. Curious if anyone here has insight, especially if you’ve had a Cleerly analysis yourself. Thanks for reading, and glad to be part of this community.

Thanks,

Greg