Stents???

On another group I monitor, the subject of stents came up. The are devices
placed in the arteries of the heart to open them up. The gist of the
conversation was, that those who had stents due to Coronary artery disease
were at risk at high altitudes. Complaints of shortness of breath, chest
pain, etc were discussed.Well my wife has several stents in place.

Being flat landers, we don't often get above 3000'. However if this could
be a problem I will insure that I NEVER climb
to an altitude where she could run into trouble.

Has anyone ever heard of a problem along these lines?

Thanks much

Paul
NC2273H

No.
The presence of an intracoronary stent does NOTHING to cause you to
be at risk at high altitude. If anything, its presence may
reverse/reduce the likelyhood of symptoms (compared to a diseased, but
unstented heart). I have been and ICU and ER nurse for over 5 years, and
a paramedic since 1990. None of the patient education materials that I
provide to any of my stenting and/or bypass surgery patients alludes to
what you are reporting, and I have not been made aware of any
peer-reviewed journal articles addressing the issue.

The underlying condition that required the stenting can cause
altitude intolerance. Translation: your clogged arteries allow less flow
of oxygenated blood through to the heart muscle. If the oxygen content
(of this lessened flow) is decreased further by going to altitude, then
you COULD experience chest pains and other symptoms of myocardial
hypoxia. The purpose of the stenting is to open up critical blockages to
the point that there is adequate flow (the medical term for this is
TIMI-3 flow, as interventional cardiologists use it). So, placing the
stent should improve oxygenated blood delivery and reduce the liklihood
and severity of angina.

Also keep in mind: Pressurized airliners have a cabin altitude of
8-10,000 feet. If she can fly commercial without symptoms, she should be
good to 8-10,000 feet density altitude. Also, when at rest, myocardial
oxygen demand is lessened. She is just sitting there. Now, if she was
climbing endless flights of stairs at 10,000 feet she might have
symptoms (but then, so might most of us - heart disease or not).

The answers are simple: She shouldn't have a problem. If she does,
lets find out why (untreated critical disease?, lung problems, etc?). By
having the stenting, she should have BETTER tolerance, not worse. Thats
the whole point of stenting.

Dave

Paul Anton wrote:
On another group I monitor, the subject of stents came up. The are devices
placed in the arteries of the heart to open them up. The gist of the
conversation was, that those who had stents due to Coronary artery disease
were at risk at high altitudes. Complaints of shortness of breath, chest
pain, etc were discussed.Well my wife has several stents in place.

Being flat landers, we don't often get above 3000'. However if this could
be a problem I will insure that I NEVER climb
to an altitude where she could run into trouble.

Has anyone ever heard of a problem along these lines?

Thanks much

Paul
NC2273H

In article ,
Dave S wrote:

Also keep in mind: Pressurized airliners have a cabin altitude of
8-10,000 feet.

I am absolutely no expert on this subject, so take this as a query, not
a correction: my Casio altimeter watch can easily be a hundred feet or
more off, especially if not calibrated at the start of a trip, but in a
fair amount of transcontinental and trans-Atlantic flying I've never
seen it indicate above maybe 6800 feet at most . . . ???


[And on a related note, if any experts out there have information on
altitude risks of air travel (commercial) for people at risk of
lymphadema (lymphodema?) I'd be glad to receive pointers.]

Got one of those expensive "tubes" 5 years ago (after a myocardial
infarction) and made my pilots license 2 years later with JAR
(Europe)medical class 2 and no restrictions. Never had any of the
mentioned problems at altitudes up to 14'000ft (nor at sea level) and I
very often cross the Alps or do some "sightseeing" and hunt for "upper
level" peaks and glaciers.

Of course it's not a general rule and every person reacts different,
but I think it's more a question of hypoxia than a question of stents.
If your wife feels well at 3000ft and doesn't run out of breath easily
(i.e. by climbing stairs or doing some sports), chances are good she
feels ok at higher altitudes as well. The only advice I got was from my
(scuba) dive doctor. He suggested not to go below 120ft any more..,
don't have a problem with that ;-).

Chris

Paul Anton schrieb:
On another group I monitor, the subject of stents came up. The are devices
placed in the arteries of the heart to open them up. The gist of the
conversation was, that those who had stents due to Coronary artery disease
were at risk at high altitudes. Complaints of shortness of breath, chest
pain, etc were discussed.Well my wife has several stents in place.

Being flat landers, we don't often get above 3000'. However if this could
be a problem I will insure that I NEVER climb
to an altitude where she could run into trouble.

Has anyone ever heard of a problem along these lines?

Thanks much

Paul
NC2273H

You are right.. its not calibrated.. but guess what.. IF your device is
correct, then thats even better for the person on the recieving end of
that "lower cabin altitude"

I dont mind being wrong about something if its a good thing.
Dave

AES wrote:

In article ,
Dave S wrote:


Also keep in mind: Pressurized airliners have a cabin altitude of
8-10,000 feet.


I am absolutely no expert on this subject, so take this as a query, not
a correction: my Casio altimeter watch can easily be a hundred feet or
more off, especially if not calibrated at the start of a trip, but in a
fair amount of transcontinental and trans-Atlantic flying I've never
seen it indicate above maybe 6800 feet at most . . . ???


[And on a related note, if any experts out there have information on
altitude risks of air travel (commercial) for people at risk of
lymphadema (lymphodema?) I'd be glad to receive pointers.]

"...
On another group I monitor, the subject of stents came up. The

Thanks for all the replies false alarm I guess (I'm glad to say)

Paul
NC2273H

AES wrote:
In article ,
Dave S wrote:


Also keep in mind: Pressurized airliners have a cabin altitude of
8-10,000 feet.


I am absolutely no expert on this subject, so take this as a query, not
a correction: my Casio altimeter watch can easily be a hundred feet or
more off, especially if not calibrated at the start of a trip, but in a
fair amount of transcontinental and trans-Atlantic flying I've never
seen it indicate above maybe 6800 feet at most . . . ???

I believe the requirement is that the pressure be maintained to be
equivalent to 8000' or lower. I've seen pressure-altitude indications
of up to 7900', but most flights have been 7000' or less.

On Sat, 04 Jun 2005 03:11:00 GMT, Dave S
wrote:


I am absolutely no expert on this subject, so take this as a query, not
a correction: my Casio altimeter watch can easily be a hundred feet or
more off, especially if not calibrated at the start of a trip, but in a
fair amount of transcontinental and trans-Atlantic flying I've never
seen it indicate above maybe 6800 feet at most . . . ???

that is the common cabin altitude here in australia as well.
it is about the highest altitude a breathing impaired or obese person
can tolerate without respiratory distress.

on the stents issue a pilot friend had a mild coronary. got the 3
aspirin under the tongue trick and a quick trip in the ambulance.
3 stents were inserted that afternoon.
was back with a medical release and flying as a pilot in a month.

has no restrictions and has had no problems.

Stealth Pilot

Also keep in mind: Pressurized airliners have a cabin altitude of
8-10,000 feet.

I am absolutely no expert on this subject, so take this as a query, not
a correction: my Casio altimeter watch can easily be a hundred feet or
more off, especially if not calibrated at the start of a trip, but in a
fair amount of transcontinental and trans-Atlantic flying I've never
seen it indicate above maybe 6800 feet at most . . . ???

On the subject of cabin pressure, I have an interesting story to relate.

My father is a mechanical engineer, and he occasionally had to travel with
test equipment, to work in factorys at his destination.

On a trip to Europe and back, he had his equipment with him as usual, and
the return flight went into the wee hours of the night. He had a report to
write, so he was using the time on the flight to get it done. He started
getting sleepy, and out of curiosity, he took out an accurate altitude
barometer, and it showed an unusually high altitude. I don't remember for
sure what the number was, but I think it was in the 10,000 foot range. He
called a steward over, and told him to tell the captain to turn the cabin
pressure up to where it was supposed to be, that making everyone sleepy to
make the cabin attendant's life easier was not supposed to be happening.
The steward said, "Oh, they don't do that," to which my dad said, "Bull."
"I have equipment to prove it."

A short time later, the cabin pressure was back to normal.
--
Jim in NC