I Have Been Reading To See If Hydrocarbon Solvents Can Affect Him This Way?

Posted on 24 hours ago

Question: Hello. My husband is 42 years old and 6' 4" weighing about 220 pounds. He has been spraying custom cabinets for nearly 20 years. Recently however the last few times he has sprayed (he generally wears a N-95 mask) he has come home and had an alarming increase in his heart rate which has included very severe chest pain. He can historically have high blood pressure and we have a machine which reads his BP - but when he experiences these episodes his BP has been unaffected. He has drank a glass of wine a few times which seems to help. I want to say this has happened about 4 times now and the only thing we can link it with is his paint spraying of cabinets. He has no arm pain or shortness of breath but I am FREAKING OUT and he does not want to go in to see a doctor. I have been reading to see if hydrocarbon solvents can affect him this way???

Answered by Dr. Ilir Sharka (52 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
I would recommend going ot the ER for some tests.

Detailed Answer:
Hello,

I passed carefully through your question and would explain that coronary artery disease can not be excluded considering his symptoms. Cardiac arrhythmia can also cause this type of increased heart rate, but the chest pain is really concerning.

Is the chest pain triggered by any body position or deep breathing? This could be suggestive of a musculo-skeletal pain.

The substances present in the solvents can also cause this clinical situation ( cardiac arrhythmia), but the chest pain is really concerning about something serious.

But, as a cardiologist, I would recommend going to the ER for a physical exam, a resting ECG and some tests (cardiac enzymes, blood electrolytes) in order to investigate for the possible cause underlying this clinical situation.

Further tests may be needed (exercise cardiac stress test, 24 hours ECG Holter monitoring, cardiac ultrasound, etc..) .

Hope you will find this information helpful!

I remain at your disposal in case of further questions whenever you need!

Kind regards,

Dr. Ilir Sharka, Cardiologist

Note: For further queries related to coronary artery disease and prevention, click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar