After the stent was placed, Tom woke in excruciating chest pain. He told nurses “something is wrong” but was told it was normal discomfort from the procedure. The stent had not adhered properly to the artery wall, causing rethrombosis—the blockage went from 90% to 100%. Tom went into cardiac arrest, oscillating between VTach and VFib for eight minutes. He received 8-12 defibrillator shocks. His ejection fraction dropped to 15% (normal is 50-70%). Survival rate for cardiac arrest: 25%.
“You immediately became priority one in the hospital.”