Mumbai marathoner suffers 2 heart attacks simultaneously

Sanjay Shah, a 47-year-old Mumbai-based marathoner and a fitness enthusiast, suffered two heart attacks simultaneously. This is a very rare medical condition, the doctors of Fortis Hospital, Mulund, Mumbai, who treated Shah said.

Shah, who was admitted to the Fortis Hospital, Mulund, complained of chest pain, dizziness during his routine morning run.

He was immediately operated upon by Hasmukh Ravat, Interventional Cardiologist at Fortis Hospital, Mulund who discovered that the patient had suffered two heart attacks simultaneously in two different arteries.

Hasmukh earlier conducted a primary angioplasty -- a stenting procedure conducted within a few hours of the heart attack.

The patient's electrocardiogram (ECG) showed that his right Coronary Artery was blocked. However, a Doppler Test (an ultrasound test to measure the amount of blood flow through arteries and veins) showed that his left main artery was also progressing towards blockages, an official statement of the Fortis Hospital, Mulund, said.

The doctors said that two simultaneous heart attacks, also known as "simultaneous occlusions," are uncommon.

Ravat first stented the patient's left artery, which brought down his heart rate and subsequently the right artery was stented.

Doctors are also amazed at how Shah suffered from heart attacks despite being in good health. They said that Shah could be probably at a high risk of heart attacks due to his family history. The patient's father and two uncles died due to heart attacks earlier.

"Despite being a fitness enthusiast, a regular jogger, a marathoner and a non-smoker, the patient suffering a heart attack is unusual. However, Shah's family history has been highly skewed towards heart attacks with three heart attacks having caused three deaths in his immediate family," Ravat told International Business Times India.

He further said that a majority of patients with a family history of heart disease do not realise that a normal cholesterol count is perhaps not good enough for them. "If a patient with a family history of heart disease has a bad cholesterol count of over 70 (as against normal of 100) or total count of over 150 (as against normal 200), he/she should be on medication," he added.

In Shah's case, Ravat said that he would need to ensure to keep his cholesterol under control at all times.

A heart attack occurs when the flow of oxygen-rich blood to a section of heart muscle suddenly gets blocked and the heart stops getting enough oxygen. If blood flow is not restored quickly enough, the section of heart muscle begins to die. Heart attacks most often occur as a result of coronary heart disease, which is a condition in which a waxy substance called plaque builds up inside the coronary arteries.