[Expats & Ailments] Hospitalized Russian Tourist Released After Emergency Surgery

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A Russian tourist who experienced a sudden acute myocardial infarction while visiting Shanghai was discharged from Yueyang Hospital on Wednesday after undergoing emergency surgery.

He sent a banner to express his gratitude to the medical staff who saved his life.

A week ago, the patient developed severe chest pain, profuse sweating, and "a sense of impending death" in his hotel room at 1am. His symptoms persisted for 30 minutes, putting him in critical condition.

His wife immediately called 120 for help. An ambulance crew performed an electrocardiogram and sent the results to Yueyang Hospital via a remote ECG system.

The hospital's cardiology center activated the acute myocardial infarction emergency response mechanism and launched a green channel to seize the golden rescue time after receiving the emergency alert.

Emergency room doctors diagnosed myocardial infarction after admission. The patient lost consciousness immediately after malignant ventricular fibrillation. Medical staff restored his spontaneous heart rhythm with emergency defibrillation and chest compressions.

Emergency PCI was performed after preoperative preparation. Acute occlusion was found in the left circumflex proximal segment on coronary angiography.

He developed reperfusion arrhythmia again during the procedure. To stabilize his rhythm and ensure smooth surgery, the surgical team immediately administered electrical cardioversion and medication. The team used balloon dilation and stent implantation to unblock the vessel and restore myocardial blood flow.

The patient was taken to the cardiology ICU after surgery. The hospital combined standardized Western medicine with acupuncture to maximize the benefits of integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine. Postoperative myocardial microcirculation, slow coronary flow, chest tightness and palpitations, perioperative myocardial injury, and cardiac function recovery improved with TCM.

The rehabilitation medicine department also customized a personalized cardiac rehabilitation training plan for the patient's steady recovery of heart function. All his physical indicators returned to normal after careful nursing, and he was discharged later.

From emergency rescue and interventional surgery to postoperative rehabilitation, the hospital adopted a whole-process multidisciplinary model integrating TCM and Western medicine.

Health Tips for Acute Chest Pain

When acute chest pain occurs, act fast and seek medical help immediately:

1. Call emergency number 120 right away.

2. Keep the patient fully resting in bed before the ambulance arrives. Loosen tight clothes; do not walk or move the patient unnecessarily. Provide oxygen if available.

3. In case of shock (pale face, cold limbs, confusion, low blood pressure), place the patient in a head-low and feet-high position to boost blood flow to the brain. Avoid food and water intake and keep the patient warm.

4. If the patient loses consciousness and pulse disappears, start artificial respiration and chest compressions at once.