Heart attacks are the top cause of mortality in the US for both men and women. Despite how common they are, and how deadly, doctors and other medical professionals may fail to diagnose them quickly and correctly. If a patient has a heart attack but is undiagnosed, misdiagnosed, or diagnosed too late, that patient is significantly more likely to die from the episode. Even if he or she survives, a patient whose diagnosis was wrong or came too late is more likely to suffer complications from the heart attack or from incorrect treatment, including damage to the heart muscle itself.
Heart attack symptoms vary widely depending on a patient’s sex and age. The most common symptoms of a heart attack in men are varying degrees of pain, discomfort, or a sensation of pressure and tightness in the chest, as well as pain or numbness in one arm. It is relatively rare for doctors to misdiagnose a heart attack with these “typical” symptoms, but it can still happen. Men can have an array of “atypical” symptoms as well.
Women, on the other hand, are more likely than men to report “atypical” heart attack symptoms including pain in their backs or jaws, dizziness or fainting, a pressure sensation around their back, nausea, and exhaustion or shortness of breath. Women are also less likely to feel pain that radiates down one arm.
Because the symptoms of heart attacks are so varied, it is vital for medical staff to take the possibility of a heart attack diagnosis seriously as soon as possible. Ordinarily, the medical team should run tests to determine whether a heart attack has occurred. While they run those tests to confirm a diagnosis, they should monitor the patient and treat him or her with medicines to lower the heart’s workload and to prevent clotting in the blood vessels that supply the cardiac muscle with oxygen.
Successfully diagnosing a heart attack doesn’t just help save the patient’s life at that moment – it also opens the door to continued treatment to help the patient have a long, healthy life without another heart attack. This continued treatment may include medications and vaccines, safe and effective changes in exercise and diet, patient education, and rehabilitative exercises. But this is all dependent on a timely, accurate diagnosis.
If you or your loved one have suffered a heart attack that was misdiagnosed or diagnosed too late, or you believe you have suffered a heart attack that a medical professional failed to diagnose, you should contact a Minnesota medical malpractice attorney immediately. With the help of your attorney, you can examine all the facts and get the answers to your questions concerning what went wrong and if the misdiagnosis, late diagnosis, or lack of diagnosis was caused by your medical professional’s negligence.
To learn more and set up a free consultation with Minnesota medical malpractice lawyer contact us at (612) 444-3374.