John Ritter’s Symptoms: Similar to a Heart Attack
John Ritter died in September 2003 of a tear to his aorta (aortic dissection). A phone message left by Mr. Ritter, shortly before his death to his wife, Amy Yasbeck, was recently played during a wrongful death court case. In this message he complained of feeling nauseous as if he had food poisoning, and chest pains. He then passed out.
When Mr. Ritter arrived at a local hospital, based on the above complaints and a family history of heart disease, he was treated for a heart attack. Unfortunately the true cause of his symptoms was an aortic dissection, a tear of the large artery leading out of the heart.
Distinguishing heart attack symptoms from those of an aortic dissection is often difficult. A heart attack often causes increasing pressure-like sensation behind the breast bone, occasionally radiating to the left arm or jaw. An aortic dissection, on the other hand, is often sudden and described as a tearing sensation radiating to the back. Significant overlap in symptoms does exist, and one diagnosis can seem to be the other.
An x-ray or CAT scan image of the chest can help differentiate a heart attack from an aortic dissection. It’s however impractical to perform CAT scans on everyone who comes to the hospital with chest or back pain symptoms. This would be extremely expensive and an unnecessary radiation exposure for many patients. The diagnosis and treatment for both conditions depends largely on the clinical skills of emergency room doctors and cardiologists.
It’s important for patients to be as precise as possible when describing their symptoms. Not all chest discomfort comes from the heart, other causes must also be considered.
Comments
Th main difference between a aeortic dissection and a heart attack “is “Stabbing” pain in the back is a common symptom of an aortic dissection. In some cases, people present with pain in the chest. This pain may be confused with angina (commonly referred to as “chest pain” and a warning sign of a possible heart attack). The main difference between pain resulting from dissection of the aorta, and angina due to lack of blood supply to the heart muscle, is its sudden and intense onset. The pain is characterized as a “ripping” or “tearing” sensation. This sudden pain can be felt in the back, chest, neck, or jaw.
These are important differences to understand. “chest pain” (that may result in a heart attack) is to chew an aspirin to thin the blood. This is NOT the case if you are experiencing an aortic dissection. Thinning the blood for a person with aortic dissection may cause more blood to leak out of the aorta. This internal bleeding can lead to death.”
http://www.hearts.sutterhealth.org/health/conditions/aortic_disst.html is the link
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