BENGALURU: While premenopausal women in general are less prone to heart attacks, Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research recently received a case of a 23-year-old pregnant woman suffering from an acute heart attack.
“We rarely see such cases as premenopausal women are protected by estrogen in their body. The woman was nine weeks into her pregnancy and came in with chest pain. An ECG showed that blood supply to the heart was completely cut off and she was suffering from an acute heart attack,” said Dr K S Ravindranath, Professor of Cardiology. The doctors could not administer thrombolysis as she could suffer internal bleeding and the foetus could be affected. “We did thrombosuction where in the clot is sucked out. This procedure is usually not done as the clot may enter the brain or elsewhere. However, we had no option owing to her condition,” he added. Fortunately, nothing went wrong despite this risk.
“As there was residual narrowing left in the heart, angioplasty was done and a stent was placed. She will be on anti-platelet medication for at least a year now and she will see us for follow-ups,” he added.
As the patient suffered three miscarriages earlier, doctors suspect she may have Antiphospholipid syndrome which can cause blood clots to form in arteries, veins and organs, apart from leading to miscarriages or stillbirths in pregnant women. The procedure was done free of cost as the patient was below the poverty line.
“Our recent study found that 25% of heart attack patients were below 40 years of age. Until now, it would happen only to people above 50 years of age. However, owing to stress and air pollution, even youngsters are getting heart attacks, including women,” said Dr C N Manjunath, director, Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research.