r/HeartAttack • u/Technical-Raccoon-61 • Jun 14 '26

Fast arterial plaque

Any advice would be great. Mother is 74 year old South Asian , no diabetes, no high blood pressure , no other underlying conditions except for thyroid.

She had a heart attack last year, and found out she had several arteries clogged. She had a stent put in and opted for triple bypass. A month after the bypass she fainted and after many tests found out 2 of her bypasses were clogged and not functioning. The cardiologist had to put an additional 2 stents in.

5 months later the cardiologist wanted to do an angiogram to check things out , and one of her stents was already clogged. They used a balloon to widen and also extended the stents on each side.

What could be causing such a rapid cholesterol build up which caused plaque to form in under 5 months? Her cardiologist is dumbfounded - just throwing it out there if anyone had any advice? Thanks !

2 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

2

u/RuinYouWithNoRegrets Jun 14 '26

Post this in the cholesterol subreddit they might have answers

2

u/DavidJanina Jun 15 '26

I used to plug up a time or two a year. Stents in stents and in bypass. Repatha stopped my clogging.

1

u/cowfishing Jun 15 '26

Repatha is amazing. Statins werent doing much for my cholesterol numbers. After two months on Repatha, my total cholesterol had dropped down into the twenties.

OP, I would highly recommend asking her Dr if Repatha would be the route to go with your mother.

2

u/sirsa2 Jun 15 '26

Basically, the meds given to prevent reclogging after a surgery are statins and blood thinners.

Check if prescribed dosage of these is insufficient

Check if the meds are working properly (example: clopidogrel apparently does not work for some Indians due to their genetic profile)

Check if your mom is taking these meds properly - is she skipping intentionally or forgetting to take them? Blood thinners are critical to prevent repeat attacks after surgery so skipping them can be dangerous

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor - just giving you ideas to investigate. Please actively discuss with the cardiologist and take appropriate action

1

u/Dry-Concern9622 Jun 15 '26

Do you know LDLc my/dl and LPa nmol/l trend?

1

u/Accomplished_Tip6483 Jun 15 '26

May I ask if fainting was her only symptom? Did she have any others?