Q: I am a 54 years old male. I had a surgery for intradural neurofibroma some 30 years ago. Ten years after the surgery, I came to know that I am a diabetic. I am on insulin for the last six years. Meanwhile, I had mild pain in my heart for which the doctor told me that there is nothing to worry. He asked me to take medicine regularly and jog daily. A few months back, I had a severe wound on my right leg for which I had a skin grafting surgery. Before the skin grafting surgery, the ECG and ECHO test reported LVEF 34%. The doctor prescribed me Acitrom 2 mg tablet. Why has this medicine been prescribed to me? Will I need to undergo angiography or bypass surgery?

A:From the report that you have provided, basically I understand that the heart function is weak and you are taking tablet Acitrom, which is a blood thinning tablet. This tablet is usually given to prevent blood clotting or if blood clotting has already taken place, to prevent extension of this clotting process. Angiography is a test, which is performed to look at the arteries of the heart and is indicated, if there is any suggestion of blockages in the arteries, either in form of presence of symptoms of chest pain and angina or if the stress test is positive. Whether you need coronary angiography or not, cannot be decided based on a sketchy report alone and therefore what I suggest is that you consult your treating physician or cardiologist and only he can take a final call, whether you need angiography and further treatment or not.