被诊断为肥厚性心肌病“吓坏了”的密歇根州男子,现在走上了健康的道路
![Vi Tang, whose hypertrophic cardiomyopathy was diagnosed when he was 15, 了解到通过适当的疾病控制可以过上正常的生活吗. (Photo courtesy of Vi Tang)](/-/media/Images/Around-the-AHA/Vi-Tang_SC.jpg)
At age 15, Vi Tang went to the doctor in his native Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, with what he thought were cold symptoms.
It was much more serious.
When the doctor listened to his heart, she heard a murmur, ordered an echocardiogram, then referred him to a cardiologist the next day.
Turns out, Tang had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or HCM, 心脏壁变厚变硬的一种状态. This can cause shortness of breath, chest pain, heart palpitations, fatigue, fainting and other symptoms in people of any age.
"I was terrified when I received the diagnosis," said Tang, recalling sleepless nights and his parents' worrying.
他的脑子里想的是可能的心脏移植手术, 他去做了定期检查,并在接下来的几年里开了一种受体阻滞剂.
A few years later, 坐在新泽西州费尔利·迪金森大学的课堂上, 唐觉得自己的心率突然上升,觉得自己要晕过去了. He went to the emergency room, and based on the episode and his previous echocardiograms, 医生马上让他去拿一个植入式心律转复除颤器.
值得庆幸的是,“自从我安装了ICD后,我没有受到惊吓或其他任何事情,”唐说.
几年来,他感觉良好,并继续定期检查.
By 2015, 唐从费尔利·迪金森学院毕业后搬到了密歇根州, where he works in biomedical research. When he went for a checkup that year, 他的医生发现他的心脏有如此严重的阻塞,他需要进行隔肌切除术, an open-heart surgery to remove some of the thickened muscle.
![2015年,Vi Tang得知他需要进行一项名为“隔肌切除术”的心内直视手术,以切除一些增厚的心肌. (Photo courtesy of Vi Tang)](/-/media/Images/Around-the-AHA/Vi-Tang_hospital.jpg)
回首往事,唐承认他忽略并补偿了自己的一些症状. For instance, 他会从一个他知道台阶较少的入口进入一幢大楼,以避免费力. After the myectomy, that changed for the better.
"Three or four days after the surgery, I went for a walk and had to go up a hill to get back home, and I could feel the difference," Tang said. "I couldn't feel my heart pounding in my chest. I knew it was the right decision."
现在唐做的不仅仅是爬山,他还参加赛跑和骑自行车. In 2018, he completed his first 5K run.
"I didn't think that I would ever be able to do that," he said, 注意到他的医生鼓励他做中等强度的运动,并建议他监测心率,在运动时保持水分.
![就在他接受了治疗肥厚性心肌病的鼻中隔肌切除术几天后, Vi Tang knew his condition had improved. These days he’s biking and running races. (Photo courtesy of Vi Tang)](/-/media/Images/Around-the-AHA/Vi-Tang_5K.jpg)
如今,唐是密歇根大学生理学系的一名学生. 他的目标是利用他的职业生涯进行HCM研究,有朝一日可能会帮助他自己和其他患者.
因此,虽然他的诊断最初感觉像是被判了死刑,但唐很乐观. 他从经验中知道,管理得当是可以过正常生活的.
"That's what I tell myself," he said. "Whatever happens, I will be able to deal with it."
The Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Association 参加美国心脏协会的肥厚性心肌病倡议,以提高HCM的认识和护理.