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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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My Uncle Had A Heart Attack, What Are The Chances Of Him Surviving ?

My uncle John just had a heart attack yesterday around 3pm. My aunt found him on the bedroom floor not breathing and with no pulse. 911 came and were able to revive him. He did go several minutes without oxygen though. He is at the hospital and they have sedated him. They did an Angioplasty on him to clear his arteries. 2 of the 4 main arteries were blocked. One was 100% blocked and the other was 95% blocked. They brought this body temp way down and gave him meds to paralyze him so he can t shiver. He has not been conscious since the attack..but they are purposely sedating him at this point to preserve oxygen for his brain . My family is concerned about the lack of oxygen he had to his brain between the time my aunt found him and the time the paramedics were able to revive him. They shocked his heart twice before they were able to get a weak pulse. They are planning on warming him back up tonight. What are the chances of him surviving? How likely is it that he suffered permanent brain damage? Any prayers for him would be greatly appreciated as well! Just got a text from my dad who s at the hospital right now..he said he went 20 min with very little oxygen. My aunt gave him CPR for 20 min til the paramedics were able to take over. He did get some oxygen, but very little.
Sat, 19 Dec 2009
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Hi sorry to hear about your uncle, times like this are very worrying for everyone in the family and I hope you are all holding up together. It depends on where-abouts the arteries were blocked, they branch off smaller and smaller as they go down around the heart so obviously the higher up they are blocked the worse the general outcome as the more of the heart is affected 'downstream' so to speak. Also some arteries supply more of the heart than others so it rather depends on which arteries are affected. The hospital sounds well on top of his treatment though so I feel confident that they are giving him every chance. My thoughts are with you and I hope everything goes ok.

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My Uncle Had A Heart Attack, What Are The Chances Of Him Surviving ?

Hi sorry to hear about your uncle, times like this are very worrying for everyone in the family and I hope you are all holding up together. It depends on where-abouts the arteries were blocked, they branch off smaller and smaller as they go down around the heart so obviously the higher up they are blocked the worse the general outcome as the more of the heart is affected downstream so to speak. Also some arteries supply more of the heart than others so it rather depends on which arteries are affected. The hospital sounds well on top of his treatment though so I feel confident that they are giving him every chance. My thoughts are with you and I hope everything goes ok.