Recently, a 23-year-old woman went to the local hospital for a severe headache, and after examination, she found that the lesion that caused the headache was actually in the heart - her heart oval hole was not closed, which was the real cause of her headache for more than ten years. What is patent foramen of the heart? How is it treated? Why is it that what is clearly a heart problem causes pain in other parts of the body?
In the left and right heart rooms, there is an ovary hole
There are 4 cavities inside the human heart, from top to bottom, left to right, left atrium, right atrium and right ventricle. Under normal circumstances, the ipsilateral atrium and ventricles communicate, while the atria and the atrium, and the ventricles and ventricles are blocked and do not communicate. But because the fetus can't breathe with the lungs, a hole is formed between the two atriums to ensure the normal flow of blood in the heart— the hole is the ovale hole.
Migraine caused by patent foramen of the heart
It can be treated with medication or minimally invasive surgery
In general, 5 to 7 months after birth, the ovale foramen will gradually close, separating the two atriums; if it is not completely closed after 3 years of age, the remaining fissure-like channel is called the foramen ovale. Surveys have shown that the incidence of patent foramen in the oval is as high as 25% in adults.
Although the probability of occurrence is not low, the patent foramen of the oval is not well known to us, because the vast majority of patients do not develop the disease. In general, it is only prone to illness in the case of strenuous exercise, coughing, holding breath, etc. In these patients with the disease, the blood flow of the heart has a "short passage", that is, part of the blood enters the left atrium directly from the right atrium through the unclosed ovarian hole. This will trigger a range of complications, of which migraines are one of them.
Professor Liu Jian, deputy director and chief physician of the Department of Cardiology of Peking University People's Hospital, said that the migraine caused by patent foramen in the oval is much more serious than the headache of a cold, and some patients even have unbearable pain when they inhale.
For migraines caused by patent foramen ovales in the heart, the preferred treatment option is pharmacotherapy. If the doctor evaluates that the condition is severe and there are no contraindications, patent occlusion of the foramen may be performed. This is a minimally invasive procedure in which a guide wire is inserted after the patient's femoral vein puncture, and the catheter can reach the inferior vena cava from the femoral vein, then to the right atrium, and the occlusion device is sent to the open foramen of the egg for sealing, usually in half an hour to an hour. Studies have found that after sealing the foramen of the egg, most patients have headache symptoms that can be relieved or even completely disappeared.
Myocardial infarction, while more common, also has some uncommon symptoms
Myocardial infarction is a heart disease we hear more often about than the patent foramen of the heart. But in reality, we don't know much about the conditions of myocardial infarction.
Generally speaking, when myocardial infarction occurs, there are mainly the following three symptoms:
Persistent chest pain: Pain in the mid-center (posterior sternum) or mid-left (anterior region) of the chest, which is the most common symptom of a heart attack. It wasn't a stinging at a certain point, but a burning, squeezing, or even near-death sensation in the entire area that lasted more than 15 minutes.
Dyspnea: Studies have found that women in mainland China have fewer chest pain symptoms than men when they have a heart attack, and there are more symptoms such as palpitation, chest tightness, shortness of breath, and even accompanied by nausea, vomiting and other phenomena.
Weakness, dizziness.
As soon as you or someone else develops the above symptoms, you should immediately stop your activities and rest on the spot. If symptoms do not improve, you should call the 120 emergency number immediately and get cardiac emergency medical services as soon as possible.
In addition, heart attacks have the following 5 uncommon symptoms:
Sore throat: usually burning pain in the throat, tight throat, may be accompanied by chest tightness, breath holding.
Shoulder pain: Generally a dull pain in the left shoulder or the medial side of the left arm, which may radiate to the little and ring fingers.
Toothache: Pain is usually felt in multiple teeth or even the entire gums, and generally no clear tooth disease is detected, which is more common in women.
Stomach pain: persistently worsening stomach pain, fullness, nausea, vomiting, etc., especially when active and recurrent.
Pain in the back or jaw.
These atypical pain symptoms caused by myocardial infarction attacks tend to worsen with 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, panic, breath holding, poor breathing, sweating and other symptoms, and may also make people feel abnormally irritable. If these symptoms occur and become more severe, you need to be alert to the possibility of myocardial infarction.
Source: Voice of China WeChat public account
Guangzhou Daily New Flower City Editor: Chen Tingting