Silent Heart Attack

The term “silent heart attack” describes the situation in which evidence of a prior heart attack is picked up during medical testing in a patient who did not realize that they have had a heart attack.

- Sanjeev Chaudhary

 Many people do not experience the typical chest discomfort that most people think of when they imagine what is like to have a heart attack, and this is how these heart attacks can be missed. For example, we know that patients with diabetes are at higher risk for heart disease, but they are also more likely to experience atypical chest pain or no chest pain at all when having a heart attack.

We also know that there are different mechanisms by which patients can have heart attacks. While the end result is inadequate blood flow to a portion of the heart resulting in damage, there are many different ways that this can happen.

Silent heart attacks have real consequences, and we are learning to take them just as seriously as heart attacks that manifest with traditional symptoms.

Patients don’t experience symptoms during a silent heart attack. However, patients might feel the after-effects of the damage from a heart attack, particularly symptoms of heart failure that can include:

New difficulty breathing

Fluid accumulation (i.e. swelling), particularly in the legs

Fatigue

GENDER DIFFERENCES