 Heart
Attack:
Early detection of a heart
attack or heart disease may save a person's life. When malpractice
occurs, there is a often a negligent delay in diagnosis or
treatment. If a doctor fails to properly diagnose a heart
attack, the consequences can be tragic, especially since a
timely diagnosis may minimize damage to the heart.
If
a patient reports to the doctor with chest pain,
nausea, shortness of breath, abdominal pain, arm pain, blurred
vision, or irregular heart beat, the doctor may commit malpractice
if he negligently fails to consider the patient's risk factors,
fails to order or perform the appropriate diagnostic testing,
or fails to thoroughly investigate the areas and degree of
physical pain the patient is having. If a diagnosis of heart
attack is made, certain drugs may need to be given and procedures
started without delay to minimize heart damage. Failure to
do so may constitute malpractice and may lead to loss of life
or permanent heart damage. There
are several important tests that a doctor may order
or perform to reach a correct and hopefully early diagnosis
of heart attack or heart disease:
EKG
(electrocardiogram):
Measures the electrical output
of the heart and can show the presence of an abnormal
heart beat.
Blood
Test:
Measures levels of cholesterol and c-reactive
protein which bears a relation to risk factors such
as higher levels of arterial inflammation and calcification
or narrowing of the coronary arteries. Furthermore,
during a heart attack, there may be an elevation of
certain enzymes (cardiac troponin, CKMB/ creatine phosphokinase)
that can be measured by a blood test as the heart muscle
becomes damaged.
Cardiac Catheterization/Angiogram:
An imaging
study with the release of a special dye performed by
using a tiny catheter which is guided up through the
inside of a blood vessel in the groin into the coronary
arteries in order to detect a blockage or clot.
Echocardiogram:
An ultrasound of the heart that can show the capacity
and/or efficiency of the heart walls and heart valves
as they function.
CT
Scan:
A high speed scan that is performed by radiology
that can detect levels of increased calcification or
narrowing in the coronary arteries.
Thallium
Stress Test:
A special dye is used to enhance photographic
images of the heart during exercise on a treadmill or
at rest.
 Malpractice
may occur if the doctor fails to provide emergency treatment
for a heart attack. Emergency
treatment may include, but is not limited to, administering
oxygen, drugs to break up blood clots (such as tPA), drugs
to stop new blood clots from forming (anticoagulants), drugs
to reduce the workload on the heart (beta blockers), and
pain medication. If it is uncertain whether a patient is
experiencing a heart attack, drugs to prevent blood clots
may be started to lower the risk of a heart attack. If the
diagnosis of heart attack has been made, early use of medications
that dissolve blood clots, or emergency angioplasty or coronary
artery bypass surgery, may prevent loss of life or lessen
the degree of permanent heart damage.
If
you or a loved one has
a case involving a delay in diagnosis of heart attack or
heart disease, then click
here for a free case evaluation by our staff
of trained legal professionals.
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