SCAD: The heart attack waiting to happen to fit, healthy young women

Retired pro tennis star Trudi Musgrave Edwards is one of the fit, healthy, young women affected by a rare but deadly disease with next to no warning signs - until a heart attack strikes.

Retired pro tennis star Trudi Musgrave Edwards’ life as an athlete has taken her to Wimbledon and in peak physical health – but now she lives life with a ticking time bomb, a mysterious heart condition that can strike at any moment.

Trudi was coaching a tennis student last year when she felt a familiar pain in her chest.

It had started days earlier, an out of the blue pain that subsided – and after googling ‘can a 43-year-old have a heart attack’ the athlete decided it probably wasn’t that serious.

But after sitting down to let the pain subside, instead Ms Musgrave Edwards found herself in the throes of a heart attack and a terrifying diagnosis.

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) affects mainly fit and healthy women under the age of 50 and has next to no warning signs until a heart attack strikes.

Retired tennis star Trudi Musgrave-Edwards and son Levi.

The healthy, fit former tennis pro never imagined she’d be at risk of a heart attack.

The devastating news for Trudi was the likelihood it would happen again.

“It was just a massive shock and I was in disbelief, even now I worry I could have a heart attack tomorrow – I say it lightly but I really could,” she said.

Trudi was also diagnosed with fibromuscular dysplasia, meaning she is also at risk of stroke.

“There’s nothing to prepare me for them and no signs it’s going to happen so it’s very daunting.”

“My son was seven at the time and it was really hard to explain to him … I’ve said to him if my husband is away for work if he finds mummy and can’t wake her up he needs to call an ambulance.”

“Even now sometimes I worry when I’m by myself in a hotel room, how would anyone check I was OK if I didn’t wake up? I tell my tennis managers if I’m not at the courts, I’m never late, you need to check on me.”

Ms Musgrave-Edwads receives her Wimbledon trophy from the Duke and Dutchess of Kent in 1995.

“I had never heard of SCAD until it happened to me … I think if I had seen a lot more about this before I might have done something about it days beforehand when I first had some chest pain, maybe I could have stopped it from being as bad as it was. Even when I was having a heart attack, I didn’t believe I could be having one.”

Trudi is just one of the patients the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute is supporting in a landmark study to try and understand the mysterious disease and improve outcomes for the women diagnosed.

Ms Musgrave-Edwards has warned her tennis managers if she’s late to the courts, she could be having a heart attack or stroke.

In a study with the Australian Centre for Heart Health researchers found that survivors of SCAD, which is responsible for 24 per cent of heart attacks in women under 50, often suffer poor mental health after diagnosis.

“Unlike most heart attacks, SCAD is not caused by a build-up of fatty plaque in the arteries so there are no warning signs like chest pain associated with exercise, also called angina or raised cholesterol,” Trudi’s cardiologist Professor Bob Graham said.

“The vast majority of people who have SCAD are relatively young and healthy so having a heart attack is a complete bolt out of the blue. Survivors are in a state of disbelief.”

“We discovered that SCAD patients had very high rates of anxiety and depression. Many are so terrified that this could happen again that they are too scared to travel because they worry about being too far away from a hospital.”

Researchers are continuing their work to improve health outcomes and lobby for SCAD specific rehab programs.