Is this problem something that could have been detected with one of those $79 heart scans deals or are those mostly a rip off?
Probably not. Those devices are for afib where the heart beats extra fast. Heart blockage that causes heart attack may only be directly known by cath lab procedures. Indirect methods include checking blood for troponin, ekg, scans. His only symptoms may have been chest pain.
“Is this problem something that could have been detected with one of those $79 heart scans deals or are those mostly a rip off?”
not sure. if it’s just a hi-res cat scan, it can show the degree of calcification, but without overt symptoms, i don’t know if that would be enough for a cardiologist to consider an angiogram, which is the ONLY definitive test ...
nuclear stress tests are what are mostly used by professional cardiologists when non-life threatening cardio symptoms are present ... but those tests produce a VERY low res image, and have a very high degree of false negatives, so most cardiologists i’ve seen who have the least bit of suspicion after such a test go right for an angiogram ... the first nuclear stress test i had was negative but given my clinical symptoms AND family history, my cardiologist performed an angiogram and found a 90% blockage that he stented ...
They are ok as far as it goes. They are not definitive but can point to the need for more testing