Ask a Texas Heart Institute Doctor
Informed patients make better patients.
Question:
How long does it take for a coronary artery to become occluded and can echo diagnose narrowing?
A 40 yr old male, active, not overweight, modified diet. PT. Dx - Hiatal hernia. Hx A-fib/5yrs. Usually chem and defib every 6mths when meds not control rhythm. Pt went for pretest thallium stress test, followed by heart cath - showed 3 severe occluded arteries.
Question: for 3 arteries to be 75% occluded, how long in month/yrs to become so occluded? Wouldn't there be indications prior to these results? Is an Echo capable of DX arteries??
submitted by Krista from Virginia Beach, Virginia, on 10/24/09
Answer:
by Texas Heart Institute cardiologist, Patrick J. Cook, MD
An echo is NOT capable of diagnosing narrowings in the coronary arteries. There may or may not be any symptoms associated with multivessel coronary disease. While the process that leads to the narrowings starts as early as childhood, the change from nonocclusive (not very tight) narrowing to very tight narrowing can happen quite suddenly, literally overnight.
See also on this site:
Has your question or a similar one already been answered?
Search the Heart Doctor or view a complete list of Questions and Answers.
| Heart Information Center services are made possible in part by a generous gift from the Hamill Foundation. |
Updated October 2009
