Having suffered three heart attacks so far, and had a double CABG, I am more than grateful for the advice given by my cardiologist with regard to the options available and what they meant. I do not know where in the World you are, but here in Cardiff we have some of what I believe to be the best experts in their profession (But that is just my opinion). I was extremely fortunate to be in the right place at the right time when I had my second heart attack. IE is was actually in the cardio outpatients clinic waiting to undergo a stress ECG. Admitted there and then, and after an angiogram the next morning I was given the options (1) Medication, (2) Stents (3) CABG. The cardiologist advised me that tha condition of the blood vessels in my heart was so bad that CABG was the only viable option. I Had the surgery 4 months prior to my 60th Birthday and although I have had a mini stroke, and another mild heart attack since, I am feeling great. One thing I would seriously recommend is to do all the exercises and gradually build yourself back up to become fit again.
I believe that I am now a great deal fitter, and able to lots more than I could 10 years ago
Hope this helps -- Trust the cardiologists, they do not normally want to cut people open just for the sake of it, when an alternative cheaper method is available
The vessels listed are not what you would class as narrow vessels, they are main arteries which can be stented. However, it can also depend on the location of the blockages in those vessels, and the length of them. For example, the 80% blockage noted in the LAD could be the worst section, but there could be a lot of disease at < 70% not noted. If stents cannot cover all the diseased section, then they will very likely just block up quite quickly.
I think it's important they do a nuclear scan first to determine which blockages need to be bypassed. You cannot simply assume for example that a 90% blockage in the RCA needs a bypass, because natural bypasses (collaterals) may have opened up to have already dealt with the problem.
When I had my first heart attack at 46, my LAD was 100% blocked, my RCA was 100% blocked and my OM1 was 99% blocked. Yet I was still alive. The RCA was bypassed with collaterals, and the LAD was also fed with collaterals. They stented my OM1 and I felt so much better. So the grim impression took just one stent for great improvement.
I had a triple bypass that year and I was given some fantastic speeches, which included things like "with surgical techniques of today, it will last the rest of your natural life", "you will lead a normal life after the bypass". It all turned out to be nonsense. After just three months, the bypasses failed and I hadn't even recovered from surgery yet. There are no guarantees with bypass surgery. In an outpatient appointment, the room was FULL of patients with failed bypasses, some after just weeks.
I had previously been told stenting was impossible but after searching for 2 years I found a Cardiologist who was willing to do the stenting. That was three years ago and all 10 stents are still working fine. My opinion is to have a nuclear scan first, then have stents. Bypass in my personal opinion is an absolute final option, mainly because of my own experiences.