INNER city hospitals as standard should be asking patients with chest pains whether they’ve used cocaine in the past 48 hours with the community’s now broad use of the drug presenting a growing danger, one of the nation’s top doctors has said.

St Vincent’s Hospital (Sydney) director of cardiology Professor Michael Feneley said it was a myth to believe there were no health effects with cocaine and young and healthy users were just as likely to have a heart attack from cocaine as anyone else.

He said the number of ways that cocaine could now be taken and the prevalence of the drug on the streets had also seen a broader use than the stereotypical yuppie high flyer.

PAINFUL TRUTH

“Cocaine is potentially very toxic to the heart, we certainly think it’s a question younger patients need to be asked when patients present with chest pains particularly at places like St Vincent’s, inner city hospitals, I certainly think it’s a question that has to be always asked now as the possible cause of pain,” Dr Feneley, who also serves as director of the Cardiac Physiology and Transplantation Division at the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, said.

“Cocaine has an absolute myriad of dangerous effects which impact on the heart and it certainly increases the risk of heart attack probably something by 24 or 25 fold over the background community, it’s a major issue. When you use cocaine within the next hour or so your risk of heart attack goes up dramatically.”

In December last year NSW Justice Department’s Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research found possession and use of cocaine had increased “significantly” by 41.2 per cent although report authors declined to comment on how they came to that figure.

Anecdotally though, the dangers are real and rising.

TRAGIC IMPACT

Dr Cameron Holloway, consultant cardiologist to St Vincent’s and clinical faculty of the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, said young city workers aged between 30 to 50 from the finance, advertising, legal and media industries were the most common patients complaining of chest pains from cocaine-related use.

“I have seen a few tragic events over the last few months due to cocaine,” he said. “A young man in his thirties presented with a heart attack, leading to a cardiac arrest, after a party where he consumed copious amounts of alcohol and cocaine. I’m not sure if his heart will improve and he will undoubtedly have ongoing cardiac issues going forward. Sad to see heart disease at any age, let alone in such a young fella.”

He said St Vincents saw “clusters” of patients when a more pure batch hit the streets.

“I have no judgmental issue with people using recreational drugs; their life, their decisions,” he said. ”Most people who use cocaine know the financial implications of buying a drug of questionable purity, though I’m not sure how many know it can ruin their hearts and cause stroke.”