A man in his 56th year of age, Mr. Thong, experienced sudden left chest pain. The day before he felt the pain, Mr. Thong had been lifting weights for over two hours and initially thought the pain was due to muscle strain. He took medication and rested, but the pain persisted half a day later while he was riding his motorbike. Dr. Vo Anh Minh from the Vascular Intervention Center at Tam Anh General Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City explained that Mr. Thong was admitted to the hospital 16 hours after the onset of chest pain, accompanied by sweating and shortness of breath. He had a completely blocked right coronary artery with blood clots stuck in its lumen, making intervention challenging due to larger blood vessels than normal.
The medical team performed a thrombectomy to remove the blood clots, relieving Mr. Thong of chest pain and stabilizing his heart rate and blood pressure. Dr. Huynh Ngoc Long, Director of the Vascular Intervention Center at Tam Anh General Hospital, stated that an angioplasty stent was not needed as the vessel lumen was no longer narrow after thrombus aspiration.
Dr. Long emphasized that smoking is a major risk factor for acute myocardial infarction in Mr. Thong’s case as he has been smoking one pack a day for over 30 years. Smoking can lead to atherosclerosis and blood clot formation in coronary arteries through various mechanisms.
Mr. Thong has been advised to quit smoking immediately, exercise moderately, and maintain a healthy diet to reduce his risk of re-occlusion in the coronary artery.
Dr. Long reminded long-term smokers like Mr. Thong to have regular check-ups and screenings for cardiovascular disease as they are more likely to develop complications such as heart attacks than non-smokers.
In conclusion, Mr. Thong’s sudden left chest pain was caused by an acute myocardial infarction resulting from a completely blocked right coronary artery with blood clots stuck in its lumen due to smoking habits for over 30 years