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If you want to know what to look for and what test needs to be done when you have a loved one in intensive care with a heart attack, stay tuned! I’ve got news for you.

My name is Patrik Hutzel with another quick tip for families in intensive care from intensivecarehotline.com.

So, today I want to talk about what diagnostic tests need to be done when you have a loved one in intensive care with a heart attack. This is a question we are currently dealing with, with one of our clients who has their loved one in intensive care with a heart attack. After he spent time on the hospital ward but then had a heart attack, ended up in ICU intubated because of the heart attack, could no longer breathe.

So, what are the tests that need to be done for a heart attack? It’s really important for you to understand that.

First thing that needs to be done is a 12-lead ECG (electrocardiogram), that means electrodes will be applied to the chest and the 12-lead ECG will be done, and you can often see a heart attack in the 12-lead ECG.

Next, the troponin test in the blood, which is another marker for a heart attack.

Also, a CRP (C-reactive protein) test in the blood is also a marker for a heart attack.

Next, a cardiac ultrasound is really important. So basically, a heart ultrasound is really important to determine how much damage that has been done to the heart muscle.

Also, a chest x-ray needs to be done.

Also, an angiogram or also known as a coronary catheterization needs to be done depending on the location of the heart attack. Sometimes that can be followed up with a cardiac stent, also known as a PTCA (percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty) where some of the blockages to the heart will be opened.

Also, what can be done as well is, for example, a CT scan or an MRI scan of the heart as well.

Now, what else is often happening in ICU, in particular, is obviously in this situation, the client can no longer breathe, is therefore ventilated and in an induced coma. Also, what often happens, because the heart muscles have been damaged during a heart attack and the ejection fraction has probably gone down (ejection fraction means the contractility of the heart, also known as the pump function of the heart), often inotropes or vasopressors need to be used to compensate for the weakness of the heart to maintain a blood pressure that is compatible with life and medications such as noradrenaline, norepinephrine, epinephrine, or adrenaline are used. Dobutamine or milrinone might be used in some situations. Also, levosimendan or Simdax are used to improve the contractility of the heart and compensate for the weak heart muscle.

The goal in a situation like that is obviously to wean a patient off the ventilator as quickly as possible. Get them out of the induced coma, also to follow up with the cardiac damage. Can an angiogram, angioplasty reverse some of the issues or is open heart surgery needed in some situations?

Also, ECMO/extracorporeal membrane oxygenation might be needed, which is a bypass machine to take over the function of the heart temporarily while the heart is going to recover.

So, I hope that answers your questions around what needs to be done, what the diagnostics need to be done for a heart attack.

Now, I have worked in critical care for nearly 25 years in three different countries where I worked as a nurse manager for over 5 years. We’ve been consulting and advocating here at intensivecarehotline.com for families in intensive care all over the world, and we have saved many lives with our consulting and advocacy. We have changed the trajectory of many patients in intensive care to the better. You can verify that if you go to intensivecarehotline.com and you look at our testimonial section, or you go to our podcast section where we have done client interviews.

We get questions from families in intensive care every day of the week and that’s why we have created a membership for families of critically ill patients in intensive care, and you can become a member if you go to intensivecarehotline.com if you click on the membership link or you go to intensivecaresupport.org directly. In the membership, you have access to me and my team, 24 hours a day, in the membership area and via email, and we answer all questions intensive care related. In the membership, you also have exclusive access to 21 eBooks and 21 videos that I have personally written and recorded, once again helping you to make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power, and influence, making sure your loved one gets best care and treatment while they are critically ill in intensive care.

I also do one-on-one consulting and advocacy over the phone, Skype, Zoom, WhatsApp, whichever medium works best for you. I talk to you and your families directly. I talk to doctors and nurses directly and I ask all the questions that you haven’t even considered asking but must be asked when you have a loved one in intensive care.

Furthermore, I also represent you in family meetings with intensive care teams.

We also do medical record reviews in real time, and we also offer medical record reviews after intensive care in case you have unanswered questions, you need closure, or if you are simply suspecting medical negligence. All of that with the goal of you making informed decisions, having peace of mind, control, power, and influence making sure your loved one gets best care and treatment.

All of that you get at intensivecarehotline.com. Call us on one of the numbers on the top of our website, or simply send us an email to [email protected].

Also, if you like my videos, subscribe to my YouTube channel for regular updates for families in intensive care. Click the like button, click the notification bell, comment below what you want to see next, what questions and insights you have from these videos, and share the video with your friends and families.

I also do a weekly YouTube live where I answer your questions live on the show and you can get notification for the YouTube live if you are a subscriber to my YouTube channel or if you are a subscriber to our email newsletter at intensivecarehotline.com.

I have emails sitting in my inbox from October last year still answering them. If you want your email answered promptly, either contact us directly at intensivecarehotline.com or make a small donation with the super chat button here on YouTube. Then, I will get to your video next and answer it straight away.

Thank you for your support. The more content we can make for families in intensive care and help as many families as possible.

Thank you so much for watching.

This is Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com and I will talk to you in a few days.

Take care for now.

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