Husband Had Shock Heart Attack Now Worried About Kids

[Lisalisaandcultjam]

My husband who very, very rarely drinks, never smoked, is very active, eats fairly healthily suffered a Heart Attack in May this year aged 48. His blood pressure was normal at any health check he ever had through work. He mentioned his family history but nobody seemed concerned and said just to keep doing as he was doing and he should be OK!
His brother had an identical episode at around age 50 and his Dad died early 50s from the same.

When it all happened I spotted it quickly and we managed to get him to hospital within half an hour of it all starting. One Coronary artery was completely blocked and another quite badly so. He was stented as an emergency for the yotslly blocked one and they they tried to insert a 2nd stent but because of the precarious position of the artery, had the stent failed at anytime it would have been very difficult to re-stent.

Anyway, he's on a few lifelong meds now and after Cardiac Rehab there is no further follow-up.

My worry now is that our two children might have what he has seeing as it seems to be a strong family link regardless of lifestyle (in DH's case). It seems to be the males who have it and we have a son and a daughter.

Has anyone else here had this experience and is there any test or anything else we can do which might save either of them from this in the future?
Thanks in advance for reading.

Sorry your DH and your family is going through this. There’s a charity called something like cardiac risk in the young that has useful info/services.

They can have an ECG with CRY but not until they’re about 16.
I have a similar problem in my family and all I’ve been asked to do is keep an eye out for symptoms.

Sorry I cant help but we have a similar situation. All except one of df brothers had heart attacks in their 50, early sixties and I have three sons. The gp is never interested as I am seeing them.about me. Not sure they would be more concerned if it was the boys.

Do you his cholesterol? There is a genetic cholesterol disorder you can test for

Your son, maybe even your daughter, should be seen by a cardiologist for evaluation, and have regular heart check-ups as they get older. Preventative care is the key here.

And the CRY doctor said I should be monitored, but my own GP and a consultant I saw, said not.
It seems to all depend on opinion.

My partner has it in the family too. 2 heart attack deaths and one heart attack on the male side. I'd be interested to know in the genetic link also.It's a massive worry for me too as he has a partially blocked artery and on medication

Your DH's original doctor was very lax not to follow up your husband's response potential risk factors. My DH's dad died in his early 50s of a heart attack and his mum died after stroke. He had high BP spotted early and been on preventative meds since his mid 40s. Glad your DH was seen quickly and is ok.
Sorry, I don't know what to suggest about your children.

www.cdc.gov/genomics/disease/fh/FH.htm

Thankyou to you all for commenting, I really appreciate it.

I had wondered about FH but this was never mentioned when he was in hospital so I think this is something we need to find out although as far as we are aware, even before starting statins, his cholesterol was apparently fine so perhaps not.

It is just really alarming that there were no prior markers to see, even his blood pressure was fine. Since starting some of the meds his BP is quite low so they weren't able to add a beta blocker like they had first intended to.

I'm just sitting having a chat with DH just now and we are going to speak with his brother to see if any of his kids have been for any tests and then probably contact the GP in the new year to see if anything can be done. However, in seeing what some of you have said, they may not do anything yet/at all.

I'll definitely update this post if I find anything else out which may help others.

Thanks again everyone,xx

Have a look at SADS UK. Thy have a huge amount of information about conditions such as Long QT syndrome etc that may be a factor.

So sorry this sounds really scary. Definitely something to be mindful of and keep an eye on

I’m from a family of people with dodgy hearts and it pays to be mindful. My dad nearly died at 59 from heart issues despite being a keen marathon runner and cyclist. Personally l try to look after myself with MOT’s and regular ECG’s -it’s easier for me than most as lm a nurse and call in favours with colleagues. I also exercise, don’t smoke, try not to drink to excess (people often don’t realise how alcohol affects the heart) and keep my weight down (l try to keep my BMI below 25). Lots of fruit and veg, only meat Friday to Sunday

In the case of DH, who has HCM they did genetic testing. Kids had yearly cardiology appts until 18 then 3 yearly

I know of a colleague who had two male siblings die suddenly of a heart attack at a similar age. She was fortunate in having a GP who referred her to cardiology and a consultant who then referred her for a CT coronary artery scan. So far so good as the scan I think was normal. I'm not sure how widespread that altruism is. She was similar age to your DH with no symptoms of CAD but her GP did not use family history as a reason for 'screening' shall we say .
Hate to say it but there are thousands of families with similar histories and essentially it's pot luck. My DF had a cardiac arrest at 50 but luckily was in A/E at the time so was promptly resuscitated with no ill effects and lived until he was in his 80s (although had 2 stents inserted in his late 70s). His brother also had a cabg at 55. My cousins and myself were not offered any kind of screening but like a pp I look after my health, exercise and am on anti anti hypertensives etc.
You didn't mention if your partner had his lipids checked. Familial hyperlipidaemia, hypertension, smoking and stress are all things that can be remedied with early identification and are altogether a major cause of CAD. We have a creaky NHS which is struggling to treat patients with known CAD so as much as it would be a good thing to identify at risk individuals I'm not sure that there is the ability to screen them pre emptively.

Yes, look up long QT syndrome too. There would be nothing to show up on cholesterol or BP. Your heart and cholesterol could be tip top condition.

Long QT syndrome doesn't cause blockages of vessels. It's more an electrical conduction problem. OPs hubby is probably genetically predisposed to narrowed arteries due to multiple factors like hyperlipidaemia, formation of vessels etc Sadly just pot luck...