Any medical people please?

[teaandtoastandbutter]

Hello

My beloved Dad had a heart attack in May and I wondered if anybody could help. Here is what his death certificate says:

Cause - macroscopic image of ischemia of myocardium upon extended scarring and incipient rupture of celiac aorta.

I am wondering if anyone could explain this to me. I think I understand it is a heart attack but I'm unsure.

Most importantly I know it was fast but would he have felt any pain? Would he have known he was dying?

I know this isn't quite the right place. I just can't make sense of it all.

Thanks :)

Hi there - I'm so sorry to hear about your Dad - unfortunately I'm not a medical person so can't help, but wanted to bump this thread for you in case someone else can help.

I'm sorry you've been left confused.

-Macroscopic means that they could see the damage with the naked eye. -Ischemia is a lack of blood supply to an area, meaning that the oxygen and glucose that the area needs to live are restricted or cut off completely.
-Extended scarring suggests that there had been previous damage of some type.
-Incipient rupture means that there was the start of a tear.

In other words, your Dad had the beginnings of a tear in his celiac aorta and part of his heart had its blood flow restricted enough to cause obvious damage.

It's hard to answer whether he would have felt pain or known that he was dying, but any rupture of the aorta is catastrophic and has an 80% mortality rate.

Thank you both, and lougle thank you so much for taking the time to explain those very long medical terms to me.

My Dad had a heart condition but it was such a shock as he was so fit and healthy and not overweight, didn't smoke ... Just such a shock. Could stress have caused it?