When should I get a second opinion about getting a stent?

If you are having a heart attack, a stent is the standard of care to save the heart muscle from damage and potentially save your life. When a heart attack strikes, every second counts. Do not delay seeking treatment.

Stents are also highly effective at decreasing chest pain caused by blockages in the arteries that supply the heart with blood. Many patients will seek out an interventional cardiologist - the cardiologist who specializes in stent placement, angioplasty and other catheter-based procedures - to improve quality of life.

Determining whether you need a stent to treat non-life-threatening blockages will involve conversations between you and your interventional cardiologist. Your interventional cardiologist will evaluate any blockages that you may have in arteries based on diagnostic tests, your individual risk factors and medical history, and professional practice guidelines and appropriateness criteria - treatment standards developed by the world’s leading cardiologists.

You and your interventional cardiologist can discuss treatment recommendations and likely outcomes, as well as how aggressively you wish to treat non-life-threatening blockages. The goal is to find the right, individualized treatment for you.

If, after these conversations, you want a second opinion about your interventional cardiologist’s treatment recommendations, you should not hesitate to obtain one. Your health should be your top priority. Be sure to check with your health insurer to verify if they cover second opinions and, if so, for which procedures.