Hi,I am Dr. Shanthi.E (General & Family Physician). I will be looking into your question and guiding you through the process. Please write your question below.
Is It Necessary To Opt For Heart Cath For A Minor Leakage In Valve?
I am a 49 almost 50 (July 2015) year old female with a father who had a heart attack and survived at the age of 41 and a sister who died from a massive heart attack at the age of 50. I have been experiencing for an extended period of time (years) discomfort in my torso that I attributed to gastro problems. Have had acute heartburn and acid reflex for years and been self doctoring with Zantac, Prilosec, Ranatidine, etc. Have more recently been experiencing discomfort in my chest which can be described as a dull ache but not in one specific area just all over my chest. I also experience these things I call spasms that sometimes feel like they originate in my upper throat and sometimes are down farther toward my chest. At times I have strong pain right in the middle of my chest between my breasts. I have been diagnosed with a hiatal hernia and they found some inflammation in my esophagus and rawness in one side of my stomach when they did the EGD. I sometime feel like my food is stuck in my throat. My Gastroenterologist wanted me to see a heart doctor first to rule out any heart problems and I went to see them last week and even though he said he does not think my symptoms are related to my heart he wants me to have a heart cath because of my family history and he says it is the only sure way to make sure there is nothing wrong. The did an EKG and he said it was abnormal but that sometimes EKG s on women my age show that even though there is nothing wrong. I had seen another heart doctor over two years ago when my sister died cause it freaked me out and he also said at first that my EKG was abnormal and that I had had a heart attack sometime prior to then but then on my return appointment he said that he was wrong and the EKG was fine. They did a nuclear stress test and a heart monitor on me and they said everything was fine except for a valve had a minor back leakage but was nothing to worry about. To make a long story short I am really scared to do this heart cath and I really want to feel that it is absolutely necessary before I go through with it because I know that things can happen during them. Please tell me what should I do? Thank You Kelly