Céline, 47 years old

It's the weekend on a fine summer's evening, and Céline has come to have an "apéro" with friends to celebrate her release from confinement after long months of "isolation". She was happy to be able to share a moment of convivial relaxation at last.
But around 9pm, as the evening drew to a close due to the curfew, Céline felt a sharp pain in her left chest. For ten minutes or so, the discomfort had been increasing on inspiration. Céline has a history of well-balanced, treated epilepsy. The pain is a little unusual, persisting and not "letting up"... Yet her recent Covid test was negative. Despite the joy of seeing her friends again, Céline is a little worried and decides to call the emergency services for reassurance and advice. At 9:08pm, a first medical regulator conducts the interview. Céline is able to describe her feelings. She says she has no cardiovascular risk factors, a priori...
Given the persistence of this atypical pain, an ambulance is dispatched. 50 minutes later, the paramedics sent their report to center 15. The results were reassuring: Céline was conscious, and had neither fainted nor lost consciousness. She has no digestive problems, and is just a little thirsty, but it's warm at home. Pulse is a little slow (54-60 beats/min) and blood pressure is stable (120/80 and 140/60 mm Hg). No respiratory distress was noted, with good blood oxygen saturation (SaO2: 97%). This afternoon, she was doing very well and did not expose herself to the heat. But for an hour now, this "chest discomfort" has persisted.
The second attending physician insists on clarifying the characteristics of the pain and asks to speak to Céline. This time, Céline mentions a more retrosternal pain, still with this "strange sensation". The pain is not intense, but still present. She's sure there's been no trauma. The regulating doctor has to make a decision and refer the patient to a local emergency service. But the paramedics point out that Céline is pale and suddenly presents with a very brief but intense pain between the shoulder blades on the left. There's something wrong with this clinical presentation! The regulating doctor knows from recent articles and Agir pour le Coeur des Femmes chronicles that the signs of heart attack can be "misleading" in women. So her decision was made, and an SMUR was sent to the scene to perform an electrocardiogram. The SMUR team sets off, with a young intern on board who is about to see "yet another atypical chest pain in a stressed woman". The examination is reassuring, Céline is confident and even jokes a little with the team (just to give her friends the slip). But the electrocardiogram that takes place is scarcely believable for the resident: "a huge ST-segment elevation of 6 mm with mirror images" "a Pardee wave just like in the books". She can't believe it; she really wasn't thinking about it when she called the ambulance.
Céline has to admit she's been smoking a bit more lately, and with the confinement, she may have put on a few kilos, a little extra weight... like everyone else. She's taken care of, told everything's going to go quickly: perfusion, heart medication, then off to the nearest coronary angiography table! 40 minutes later, the cardiologist announced to the team that he had successfully unblocked a right coronary. The intern learned a great deal from this operation: "You have to be wary of preconceived ideas; the clinical presentation of a heart attack in women can be quite surprising! He will remember this in his practice from now on. Céline has been "saved", and now knows that she must take charge of her life and preserve her health. It was a very close call to spoil such a beautiful summer evening!
Céline's story was told to us by Dr. Nathalie ASSEZ, Emergency Physician at the Lille University Hospital Emergency Department, and Health Ambassador Agir pour le Cœur des Femmes.
Raising awareness through real-life testimonials from doctors and patients is one of Agir pour le Cœur des Femmes's key missions: to save other lives, provide knowledge, trigger screening reflexes and call the emergency services at the slightest doubt, so as to Act rather than Suffer cardiovascular accidents, by reinforcing virtuous preventive medicine.