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coronary artery blockages
An_247276 posted:
How likely is it for one artery, e.g. right coronary artery, to have significant blockage- over 70% and all others to be at 10-20 %? My total cholesterol has never been over 200, triglycerides and ldl all in low normal range, but hdl consistently low, around 30-38?
Three years ago I had a stent due to 72% blockage in RCA. This year's angiogram showed all vessels less than 20%.
billh99 responded:
I am not a medical professional and none normally responds in this forum.

But from my understanding that is very common.

First of all the common cholesterol test really don't give the full details of how "dangerous" that it is. My profile was similar, but I had an HDL of 50. There are test that are somewhat better that are based on particle size/count. And there is still much known about the different classes of HDL.

I am not sure of this, but from my reading it appears that cholesterol is not a primary cause. Rather the arteries will be inflamed and one spot "open up" and the cholesterol starts forming a plaque at that spot. And the more small LDL particles the more likely that they will be deposited in the irritated spots.

I might be describing it correctly, but that is a very crude understanding of what happens.

The first amount cholesterol forms soft plaque. That plaque can rupture and a blod clot if formed, much like for a cut in the skin. That can block flow in that section of the heart. That is an heart attack.

If the plaque does not rupture then it can slowly grow and form a restriction. It is not until that plaque reach more than 70% that it restricts blood flow enough that you start having symptoms.

In my case I had a 70% in the left main and another in the oblique margin and had a bypass.

This year's angiogram showed all vessels less than 20%.

Are you having symptoms. AFAIK repeat angiograms are only done when you have symptoms.

You might want to ask this in the Heart forum.

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