Someone I know had a family member have a massive heart attack. They were saying how doctors said all four of his arteries were completely blocked.
From my understanding, when someone has all four heart arteries blocked, it takes time to get to that point. Meaning they couldn’t all have happened to clog at the same time. I could understand some gradual buildup in the arteries, but complete blockage in all four at the same time?? That just doesn’t sound right.
My question is wouldn’t they have had a heart attack when only one artery got blocked? Or can the heart continue to function when some arteries are blocked if there’s still one functioning? How were they even alive past the first blockage?
Maybe there was slight blood flow and partial blockage in the arteries so the heart was getting just enough flow to function until finally it got so blocked it couldn’t flow anymore. Do doctors just say the arteries were completely blocked as a general statement?
I’m just trying to understand how someone could even survive past a first single blockage. I’m sorry if it’s a stupid question, but I’m autistic so maybe I’m over analyzing a general statement that doctors might just say to people. I’m also going into nursing and I just am trying to understand because that statement just doesn’t make sense to me. I want to understand as completely as possible so I can be knowledgeable on it. Thank you 🙂
In: Biology
You need to understand coronary arteries a little better, look those up first. There are two major coronaries, right and left and this is how the heart receives its blood supply, these main arteries branch off into other arteries like a tree branch. Without oxygenated blood going to the heart muscle, the area not being perfused (having blood flow) can die. As you follow the arteries down into the heart, that’s where the blockages occur. If one of those two main arteries are blocked off at the early part of them, you might not survive to surgery. People get more than 4 blocked off sometimes and need more than 4 bypass grafts- I’ve seen up to 7. Surgery isn’t the only option, you could get a stent placed which is like a Chinese finger trap that’s placed in the artery to open the blockage. Sometimes stenting is more preferable than open chest surgery- it may be all that’s needed OR the patient wouldn’t survive having their chest opened.
Having several blockages sometimes isn’t enough to kill someone. When an artery is blocked, it may not be fully blocked, the doctors can grade how blocked it is by percentage, so an artery can be 60% blocked for instance but it’s not enough to kill the heart muscle. Usually a bypass won’t be done if the artery is less than 50% blocked.
Latest Answers