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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Suffered From Ulcers, Wounds On Legs. Sweated Profusely, Breathing Heavily, Died. Due To Massive Heart Attack?

Hi, my father passed away just last night & Ive just been trying to get clear answers since the doctors couldnt tell us much. He was 52 weighing almost 300 pounds at a height of 6'2. He suffered with ulcers that produced wounds in both of his legs for some years. He also had sleep apnea (spelling) along with bad eating habits and a few other health problems, but he had been complaining about chest pains for about the past 3 days until last night they finally peaked. After cleaning and changing the bandges around his wounded legs he started to sweat heavily, breathe really hard, and even get pale. I proceeded to hold a wet rag on his forehead with a fan on him while we waited for ambulance. Every 2 minutes or so he would start to lightly twitch as if having a seizure and his eyes would roll to the back of his head. Then he would instantly begin to snore a deep snore. After about 5 seconds of these episodes he would then just continue to breathe heavily and ask to lay down from his seated position but we wouldnt let him. He kept having these spells all the way to the ambulance truck outside where they lifted him & instantly began to pump his heart like as in CPR & try to give him oxygen. We sat and watched as they pumped his heart for about 20 minutes, and when he got to the hospital they officially pronounced him gone. I believe they say it was a massive heart attack but I want to hear for myself from other doctors. I just want closure so I can know for sure. Thank you
Tue, 17 Sep 2013
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Cardiologist 's  Response
Respected Sir/ Ma'm
Thanks for writing to HCM.
1. There are two conditions which can present with chest pain and take away life quickly. They are heart attack and pulmonary embolism (blockage of vessels to lungs by clots).
2. The terminal event you described can be a rhythm disorder of heart (ventricular tachycardia) where pumping is so severely reduced that patient loses consciousness (seizure like activity & deep snore). Repeated symptomatic VTs can take away life.
3. The health team possibly tried to resuscitate by doing CPR and tackling the episodes but unfortunately failed.
Hope this provides some insight.
Sincerely
Sukhvinder Singh
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Suffered From Ulcers, Wounds On Legs. Sweated Profusely, Breathing Heavily, Died. Due To Massive Heart Attack?

Respected Sir/ Ma m Thanks for writing to HCM. 1. There are two conditions which can present with chest pain and take away life quickly. They are heart attack and pulmonary embolism (blockage of vessels to lungs by clots). 2. The terminal event you described can be a rhythm disorder of heart (ventricular tachycardia) where pumping is so severely reduced that patient loses consciousness (seizure like activity & deep snore). Repeated symptomatic VTs can take away life. 3. The health team possibly tried to resuscitate by doing CPR and tackling the episodes but unfortunately failed. Hope this provides some insight. Sincerely Sukhvinder Singh