“Is it possible to have a small heart attack?”
I'm an older man, and a few weeks ago I had chest pain and shortness of breath, and I had to lie down for a while. It passed, but now I'm wondering if it was my heart. You can't have a little heart attack, can you?
8 Answers
It is very possible to have a small or even a moderate or large heart attack without necessarily having that confirmed by doctors or in a hospital at the time of the heart attack. Approximately 25% of all heart attacks are “silent,” meaning that the patient was not aware enough of it to seek medical attention either due to minimal or no symptoms or potentially ignored symptoms. The episode that you had especially with the association with shortness of breath could have been a heart attack. It would be best to seek medical attention to have this evaluate it with an EKG and a heart echo and cardiology consultation. The cardiologist can also review all of your risk factors to potentially reduce the chance of having future heart attacks and or treat the condition that you have from an initial heart attack.
You certainly can have a 'small' heart attack. You should see your primary care physician or your cardiologist as soon as possible and have a complete cardiac workup to try and prevent a bigger problem with your heart in the future.
Yes
Mark Rasak
Cardiologist
Yes, you can. You can also have angina without heart damage. You can also have non-cardiac pains a well. Without a full history and physical along with some testing, won't be able to tell you which you had.
Yes it happens all the time. If you have any concern this is definitely worth an ER visit, especially if you're over 40 and/or have diabetes/hypertension/high cholesterol which increase your risk.
That could be a minor heart attack. It means your circulation to the heart is compromised. You should get your BP checked and have a CHOLESTEROL PANEL and stress echo also done.
Yes, you can have a small heart attack. Please follow up with a physician for further testing. Never ignore chest pain.
Yes, you can.
