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This is a continuation of my participation in the Stem Cell Research Program (referred to as CADUCEUS) with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. I volunteered to be a part of this Stem Cell Research Program because I have NO health insurance and I wanted the best health care available at Cedars. ~Wayne McDonald
On January 27, 2010 I was checked in at 6:30am for my stem cell biopsy (Check-in is two hours before a procedure).
The heart attack was on the LAD – Left Anterior Descending artery. The stem cell biopsy uses a catheter through a vein in the neck and then carefully threaded into the heart. The doctor uses moving x-ray images (fluoroscopy) to guide the catheter to the correct area. Once in position, a special device with jaws on the tip is used to remove small pieces (about 8 tissue samples about the size of a pin head) of tissue from the RIGHT heart muscle (healthy side-no heart attack).
At 7:30am I was in the operating room for my my stem cell biopsy. I was given a local numbing medicine (anesthetic) in my right neck. Because the anesthetic was a local, I was awake through the procedure. The entire procedure was about 30 minutes.
After the procedure I was moved upstairs for monitoring — blood draws every 8 hours to check my heart damage markers or cardiac enzymes, vital signs, and echocardiogram.
I was sent home about 4pm with a Holter monitor on my chest to wear home for 48 hour monitoring.
Note: This is an ongoing update of my HEALTHY recovery after a heart attack on New Years Eve 12-31-2009. Please click-on the category Heart Health to read all my updates. ~Wayne McDonald, age 54 and 136 pounds – healthy.
A Holter monitor is a machine that continuously records the heart’s rhythms. The monitor is usually worn for 24 – 48 hours during normal activity. A Holter monitor is like a ECG/EKG (electrocardiogram that records the electrical activity of the heart).
Electrodes (small conducting patches) are stuck onto the patient’s chest and attached to a small recording monitor. The patient carries the Holter monitor in a pocket or small pouch worn around the neck or waist. The monitor is battery operated.
While wearing the monitor, it records the heart’s electrical activity. The patient keeps a written diary of what activities are done while wearing the monitor. After 24 – 48 hours, the monitor is returned to the doctor’s office. The doctor will look at the records and see if there have been any irregular heart rhythms.
More information about the Holter monitor and ECG.
This is Part One of my participation in the Stem Cell Research Program (referred to as CADUCEUS) with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. ~Wayne McDonald
Before leaving the hospital on Tuesday January 5, 2010 my doctor told me about the Stem Cell Research Program (referred to as CADUCEUS). I said I would discuss it with my partner and contact the research program with my decision.
I decided to volunteer to be a part of the Stem Cell Research Program because I had NO health insurance and I wanted the best health care available at Cedars. In addition, I had already decided to go through County (Los Angeles County Department of Health Services) for regular check-ups and for my prescriptions. (Please click-on the category Heart Health to read all my updates.)
On Thursday January 14, 2010 I went in for my first Baseline visit for the CADUCEUS study. The Baseline visit gathers health information (a “history”) and a starting point of where I am in health. Today’s appointment was from 9:30am to 4:30pm.
At 9:30am I met the Studies Nurse and had a EKG and health questionare. Next, I went to the Lab for my blood draw.
The second stop was imaging for a Cardiac MRI – a 1-1/2 hour procedure. Yes, 90 minutes in the MRI machine, no breaks.
After the MRI, I went to my pre-exam for a CAT Scan (CT). Before a CT the patient drinks a contrast material. The total time was less than an hour.
That was my full day – and I went home at 4:30pm
Note: This is an ongoing update of my HEALTHY recovery after a heart attack on New Years Eve 12-31-2009. Please click-on the category Heart Health to read all my updates. ~Wayne McDonald, age 54 and 136 pounds – healthy.
Blood tests confirm (or refute) suspicions raised in the early stages of evaluation typically in an emergency room, intensive care unit or urgent care setting. Such tests are sometimes called heart damage markers or cardiac enzymes.
The blood test most commonly used to confirm the existence of heart muscle damage is the creatine kinase (KREE’ah-teen KI’nas), or CK for short. A small fraction of the CK enzyme, CK-MB, is often measured as well. CK-MB shows an increase above normal in a person’s blood test about six hours after the start of a heart attack. It reaches its peak level in about 18 hours and returns to normal in 24 to 36 hours. The peak level and the return to normal can be delayed in a person who’s had a large heart attack, especially if they don’t get early and aggressive treatment.
Tests can measure the level of other cardiac muscle proteins called troponins (tro-PO’ninz), specifically troponin T (cTnT) and troponin I (cTnI). These proteins control the interactions between actin and myosin, which contracts or squeezes the heart muscle. Troponins specific to heart muscle have been found, allowing the development of blood tests (assays) that can detect minor heart muscle injury (“microinfarction”) not detected by CK-MB. Normally the level of cTnT and cTnI in the blood is very low. It increases substantially within several hours (on average four to six hours) of muscle damage. It peaks at 10 to 24 hours and can be detected for up to 10 to 14 days.
More information about CK enzyme Blood Tests for Rapid Detection of Heart Attack
