Kevin, it all really depends on the severity of the symptoms and how it's affecting your quality of life. Medical therapy should be the first round of attempts to relieve the symptoms. It typically takes a while to determine what's best as every situation and body chemistry is unique. Depending on what's leading you to get a diagnosis in the first place should help determine next steps. For some, meds are a good solution. One thing to keep in mind however, is that meds are only treating the symptom and not the cause. The bridge doesn't heal, it doesn't get "better" and it only gets worse over time. So therein lies the conundrum. If you're not too challenged with the symptoms, meds could be a good route to go. Just keep in mind that if they're not working to your satisfaction, you may want to take the diagnostics one step further and get a provocative test to ascertain the severity of the bridge and what is going on with blood flow. Also, if you're not already there, The Myorcardial Bridge Facebook Group may give you some solace and support.
I have been diagnosed with a myocardial bridge after years of coronary vasospasms. The condition was never mention by my cardiologist. I only learned of it when I read my heart Cath report. So this is very interesting to me. As I have gotten older the chest pain increases with exertion when before I mainly had chest pain at rest. Waking me up at night etc. thank you for your work!
My brother had a cardiac arrest due to a bridge last month. He is 39 years old. He was resuscitated and is now wearing a cardiac life vest waiting to have Dr. Schnittger review his case. Hopefully we can get a path forward for him soon! ❤
@@cabecowan Cabe, I had a very similar situation. Wore the vest until they figured out what was going on. Actually went into Ventricular Tachycardia during one of the tests at Stanford and the vest was off for the test. Fortunately, it wasn't sustained although I suspect if anything was going to happen, that would have been a good place to get treated. Your brother is young and he's headed down the right path. If you get a chance, listen to the episodes of the series as Amanda is also on the younger side of this equation. She has a story with a good outcome for the heart. (Had a few other issues on the sternotomy which have been remedied now.) If Dr. Schnittger sees his situation as severe as it appears from the outside in, he should be able to move up in the queue. I'm sure the life vest moved me through quickly as well since I was only one month from formal diagnosis at Stanford to surgery. Then again, they may have wanted to move me through quicker as I have a little less shelf life at 65 than your brother at 39. I'm glad to hear he's gotten himself in one of the best places to be. If you think he would have any interest in being a guest on the podcast, I would love to connect with him. Hoping all continues well and he doesn't have to experience the vest in action. Thanks for the comments. Every new subscriber gets us one step closer to the goal of having 100% of the cardiology community recognizing MB's as symptomatic.
Stanford is without a doubt, the leading hospital system in the country for diagnosis and treatment. I also wore the "lifevest" from Sept thru December and had my surgery in January. As you know from the program, it all worked out well for me and I hope the same for your brother. Please don't hesitate to reach out on the website if you should want/need to talk with or without your brother. I would be happy to share what I can as I can totally relate to the situation. Thanks Cabe. @@cabecowan
@@Roha7724 thanks for your wealth of knowledge. I am a physician of 17 years. My brother was seen by the specialist at Stanford and they themselves said that the myocardial bridge contributed to his blood vessel closing off to the heart, causing him to go into Vfib arrest. So don’t tell me what a bridge does or doesn’t do. yes it is not common at all, but nothing is definitive in medicine. He did not have any blockage in his coronary arteries at all. He is doing well now and has an ICD and was the first recipient of the new Medtronic leadless defibrillator last month. 💪🏽
I wanted to know about the topic of coronary stent fracture in the segment of a muscle bridge. I currently have a stent in a coronary bridge segment. My stent was placed in 2013 and is a Boston Scientific Ion. Currently, the stent is in perfect condition, but I wanted to know if one can undergo a myotomy despite having a stent that is in perfect condition. I would like to know your suggestions, please.
Alana, I am not a medical professional and your question is very specific to both a medical procedure and condition. I would suggest you have that conversation with your cardiologist or cardiac surgeon. It is good that your stent is holding up given its placement.
At 70 years old I have recently been diagnosed with myocardial bridge in the LAD, how effective are beta blockers with myocardial bridge symptoms?
Kevin, it all really depends on the severity of the symptoms and how it's affecting your quality of life. Medical therapy should be the first round of attempts to relieve the symptoms. It typically takes a while to determine what's best as every situation and body chemistry is unique. Depending on what's leading you to get a diagnosis in the first place should help determine next steps. For some, meds are a good solution. One thing to keep in mind however, is that meds are only treating the symptom and not the cause. The bridge doesn't heal, it doesn't get "better" and it only gets worse over time. So therein lies the conundrum. If you're not too challenged with the symptoms, meds could be a good route to go. Just keep in mind that if they're not working to your satisfaction, you may want to take the diagnostics one step further and get a provocative test to ascertain the severity of the bridge and what is going on with blood flow. Also, if you're not already there, The Myorcardial Bridge Facebook Group may give you some solace and support.
I have been diagnosed with a myocardial bridge after years of coronary vasospasms. The condition was never mention by my cardiologist. I only learned of it when I read my heart Cath report. So this is very interesting to me. As I have gotten older the chest pain increases with exertion when before I mainly had chest pain at rest. Waking me up at night etc. thank you for your work!
Thank you! So much more to come that should prove helpful.
My brother had a cardiac arrest due to a bridge last month. He is 39 years old. He was resuscitated and is now wearing a cardiac life vest waiting to have Dr. Schnittger review his case. Hopefully we can get a path forward for him soon! ❤
@@cabecowan Cabe, I had a very similar situation. Wore the vest until they figured out what was going on. Actually went into Ventricular Tachycardia during one of the tests at Stanford and the vest was off for the test. Fortunately, it wasn't sustained although I suspect if anything was going to happen, that would have been a good place to get treated. Your brother is young and he's headed down the right path. If you get a chance, listen to the episodes of the series as Amanda is also on the younger side of this equation. She has a story with a good outcome for the heart. (Had a few other issues on the sternotomy which have been remedied now.) If Dr. Schnittger sees his situation as severe as it appears from the outside in, he should be able to move up in the queue. I'm sure the life vest moved me through quickly as well since I was only one month from formal diagnosis at Stanford to surgery. Then again, they may have wanted to move me through quicker as I have a little less shelf life at 65 than your brother at 39. I'm glad to hear he's gotten himself in one of the best places to be. If you think he would have any interest in being a guest on the podcast, I would love to connect with him. Hoping all continues well and he doesn't have to experience the vest in action. Thanks for the comments. Every new subscriber gets us one step closer to the goal of having 100% of the cardiology community recognizing MB's as symptomatic.
Stanford is without a doubt, the leading hospital system in the country for diagnosis and treatment. I also wore the "lifevest" from Sept thru December and had my surgery in January. As you know from the program, it all worked out well for me and I hope the same for your brother. Please don't hesitate to reach out on the website if you should want/need to talk with or without your brother. I would be happy to share what I can as I can totally relate to the situation. Thanks Cabe.
@@cabecowan
@@Roha7724 thanks for your wealth of knowledge. I am a physician of 17 years. My brother was seen by the specialist at Stanford and they themselves said that the myocardial bridge contributed to his blood vessel closing off to the heart, causing him to go into Vfib arrest. So don’t tell me what a bridge does or doesn’t do. yes it is not common at all, but nothing is definitive in medicine. He did not have any blockage in his coronary arteries at all. He is doing well now and has an ICD and was the first recipient of the new Medtronic leadless defibrillator last month. 💪🏽
I wanted to know about the topic of coronary stent fracture in the segment of a muscle bridge. I currently have a stent in a coronary bridge segment. My stent was placed in 2013 and is a Boston Scientific Ion. Currently, the stent is in perfect condition, but I wanted to know if one can undergo a myotomy despite having a stent that is in perfect condition. I would like to know your suggestions, please.
Alana, I am not a medical professional and your question is very specific to both a medical procedure and condition. I would suggest you have that conversation with your cardiologist or cardiac surgeon. It is good that your stent is holding up given its placement.