According to the "News Hyperlink" of the Voice of China, China Central Radio and Television Station, the news of a woman suffering from a heart problem for more than ten years has sparked heated discussions recently.
The 23-year-old Zhengzhou woman went to a local hospital for severe headache. After examination, she found that the cause of the headache was actually in the heart - her heart had a patent foramen ovale, which was the real cause of her headache for more than ten years.
What is a patent foramen ovale and how is it treated?
Why does it cause pain in other parts of the body even though it is a heart problem?
Left and right heart chambers, with a foramen ovale
There are four cavities in the human heart, from top to bottom and from left to right, they are the left atrium, left ventricle, right atrium and right ventricle.
Under normal circumstances, the atrium and ventricle on the same side communicate with each other, but there are barriers between the atrium and the atrium, and the ventricle and the ventricle.
But because the fetus can't breathe with the lungs, a hole is formed between the two atria to ensure the normal flow of blood in the heart - this hole is the foramen ovale.
Migraines are easy to treat
Generally speaking, the foramen ovale will gradually close between 5 and 7 months after birth, separating the two atria; if the foramen ovale is not completely closed after the age of 3, the remaining slit-like channel is called patent foramen ovale. .
Surveys show that the incidence of patent foramen ovale in adults is as high as 25%.
Although the probability of occurrence is not low, patent foramen ovale is not well known to us, because the vast majority of patients do not develop the disease.
Generally speaking, it is easy to get sick only in the case of strenuous exercise, coughing, suffocation, etc.
In these patients, the cardiac blood flow has a phenomenon of "shortcut", that is, part of the blood enters the left atrium directly from the right atrium through the unclosed foramen ovale.
This can lead to a range of complications, migraines being one of them.
Professor Liu Jian, deputy director and chief physician of the Department of Cardiology, Peking University People's Hospital, said that migraine headaches caused by patent foramen ovale are much more serious than cold headaches, and some patients have unbearable pain even when breathing in.
For migraine caused by a patent foramen ovale, the preferred treatment option is medication.
Patent foramen ovale closure may be performed if the doctor assesses that the condition is severe and there are no contraindications.
This is a minimally invasive procedure where a guide wire is inserted after the patient's femoral vein is punctured, the catheter can be routed from the femoral vein to the inferior vena cava, then to the right atrium, and the occluder is delivered to the patent foramen ovale The occlusion is usually done within half an hour to an hour.
The study found that after the foramen ovale was blocked, the headache symptoms of most patients could be relieved or even completely disappeared.
Myocardial infarction, although more common, has some less common symptoms
Myocardial infarction is the heart disease we hear more often than patent foramen ovale.
But in fact, we don't know much about the symptoms of myocardial infarction.
Generally speaking, when a myocardial infarction occurs, there are three main symptoms:
1. Persistent chest pain: Pain in the midline (retrosternal) or mid-left (precordial) portion of the chest is the most common symptom of a heart attack.
This is not a stinging pain at a certain point, but a burning, squeezing pain in the whole area, and even a sense of near-death, which lasted for more than 15 minutes.
2. Dyspnea: Studies have found that women in my country have less chest pain symptoms than men when they have a heart attack, and more symptoms such as palpitation, chest tightness, shortness of breath, and even nausea and vomiting.
3. Weakness, dizziness.
Once you or others have the above symptoms, you should stop activities immediately and rest on the spot.
If symptoms do not improve, you should immediately call 120 and get emergency cardiac medical services as soon as possible.
In addition, there are 5 less common symptoms of a heart attack.
1. Sore throat: usually a burning pain in the throat, tightness in the throat, possibly accompanied by chest tightness and suffocation.
2. Shoulder pain: usually a dull pain on the left shoulder or the inner side of the left arm, which may radiate to the little finger and ring finger.
3. Toothache: Usually multiple teeth or even the entire gum will feel pain. Generally, no clear dental disease can be detected. This is more common in women.
4. Stomach pain: persistent aggravating stomach pain, fullness, nausea, vomiting, etc., especially recurring during activities.
5. Pain in the back or jaw.
These atypical pain symptoms caused by myocardial infarction are often aggravated by activity, but generally do not affect local muscle and joint function.
At the same time, the pain caused by myocardial infarction may be accompanied by chest tightness, palpitation, suffocation, shortness of breath, sweating and other symptoms, and may also make people feel abnormally restless.
If these symptoms appear and become more severe, you need to be alert to the possibility of myocardial infarction.
Weakness is a kind of disease, and the root of the disease may also originate from the heart
When it comes to weakness, many people will think of a weak look.
Recently, a foreign academic study of cardiology has defined the characteristics of "frailty" and proposed a frailty syndrome.
It includes four aspects: physical manifestations are weakened strength and endurance; cognitive memory loss and cognitive impairment; social and psychological reduction in social relations and emotional instability; nutritional weight loss, muscle mass loss, etc.
The study specifically mentioned the relationship between frailty syndrome and heart disease. Liu Jian said that frailty can occur at all ages, and is more likely to occur in the elderly; in individual countries and regions, the prevalence of frailty is even as high as 59%.
Obesity, smoking, alcoholism, physical inactivity, polypharmacy use, falls, multiple comorbidities, poor cognitive function, depression, or spouse depression are more likely to be debilitating.
If these risk factors exist, especially in elderly patients with cardiovascular disease, attention should be paid to preventing the onset and progression of frailty through active physical activity, medication, nutrition, and psychosocial interventions, such as cardiac rehabilitation, and, if frailty already occurs, It is necessary to focus on improving the quality of life of patients from these aspects.
Producer: Liang Yue
Reporter: Yang Yanghejia