Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-09-27

that Is deprived Of blood and the
amount OF blood that Is taken
lup through this infarct that we
Iuse IN this mornings bulletin.
Scar Formation?
@. Excuse me. did you say In
the Presidents cast that scar
formation was forming on the
front wall?
DR.. White--It is not formed yet,
but 1t may be Q process that In
wolves the back wall here or the
lside i1eredifferent areas--that
before scar can form the muscle
lfibers that have been deprived of
blood. some Of those muscle fibers
die and have to be taken away
the bits Of dead muscle have to
he taken away by little cells that
come In called wrecking cells
the real technical terms ] won't
tgive you.
| But white blood corpuscles also
become active ct that time. They
lare the leukocytes, so that there
lis a process Of leukocytosis. That
means the increase in the num-
her of white cells so that when
we test the blood In q person
who has acute coronary throrn-
bosis with mild cardial infarct,
that Is the term that Is used for
this damaged area muscle re-
lsulting from coronary thrctn-
bosis--that is called myocardiac
Iinfarct-that means this dams
aged area. When that occurs,
then the white blood count. as
measured. goes up.
And the Presidents went UP q
little. and that is one sign OF a
degree Of damage. It went up
only. / think. to l2.500--we
don't need to give the figures.
It was only slight to moderate.
And with 1t there Is fever.
This process. you see, Is like
q little damaged area, like an
abscess, without any germs or
infection. But that has to be
taken care Of. the dead muscle
carried away. Then actually
these little wrecking cells come
in and take away. after the first
week.
" Had . Little Fever
He had a little--after the
bulletin--he had a little fever.
Mr. Hagerty-It's In this
mornings bulletin, which we win
read to you d little later,
DR.. White The first week,
then. usually. after an attack
like this. consists of removal OF
the dead muscle, clearing away
for the setting Of scar In q small
area. They vary in size. You
can have a small infarct or a big
one. and the results depend on
the size Of the scar--the infarct.
You may have q little bit Of a
one or q very big one, And
so the future depends partly on
the size of the muscle damaged
along with q little fever. which
comes usually q degree or two,
land with leukocytosis and the
ro-cardiogralns 70 show the
evolution Of this process.
The second week. after an
attack like this, the scar begins
to form. New building cells come
in to set the scar--tibrous tissue.
And after a week Of that-which
would be through the second
week-the scar has been laid
but it has not been healed yet.
1t takes another week for that
scar to become strong. There
must be no activity beyond that
OF resting quietly either In bed
Ior In Q chair. That is the third
week.
This Is an average case. and
] would say that the President
has had an average attack. So
this is the usual program in
which for the first two or three
weeks We would like to have
much quiet. nervous quiet, ply
steal quiet. and so on. but not
with absolute motionless. And
we like q little activity If there
aren't any physical or serious
complications.
And then comes the process
lof. YOU might say, rehabilitation,
after your first three weeks, q
little more activity during the
next few weeks. And as q rule
at the end Of two months or
SO you are back to normal ac-
tivity again.
Complete Rest
Q. Two months. sir?
DR.. White - Yes, the first
month Of pretty complete rest,
The first two weeks are the very
important state, you see. During
the first two weeks you have
quite complete rest. and then a
little activity. although a person
Is still in his room during the
next week or two; and finally
the second month. The other
six, seven or eight weeks -
and then back to a more nor
NAL life. getting out and around
T. rides, walks and so on, Sc
so that at the end Of two months,