I m 58, don t smoke, eat fairly well and only about 10 lbs overweight; exercise on a stationary bike 2-3 times a week for an hour each session. I just had a treadmill test, and then an echo cardiogram performed. Although I am experiencing no chest pains (never have had a heart attack, but my father died from one at age 60) and my cholesterol levels are excellent (I m on Lipitor), both the treadmill and ECG were abnormal. My doctor did suspect the treadmill to be a false positive as I had gotten well above my maximum heart rate. He said one of the atrial walls on the 8 picture ECG wasn t bouncing closed as all the others, which he said looked excellent. He thought there was a chance that could even be attributed to a badly placed sensor, but even so he wants me to have an angiogram, saying there s a 2-5% chance of a partial blockage. Of course, I m reluctant to have anything so invasive performed (and don t like the expense) if it could be avoided. He says my insurance would not pay for a re-test, but I m wondering if I should ask him for a referral for a second opinion before the scheduled angiogram on Wednesday (in just 5 days). Can you make any informed opinion on the basis of this information?
posted on
Thu, 13 Mar 2014

Sun, 18 Aug 2019
Answered on

Tue, 20 Aug 2019
Last reviewed on