rigel434

Hope someone can help me.

My 68 year old dad recently was rushed to the ER with chest pains while eating. He said it lasted about 15 minutes and was a burning sensation like heartburn in the center of his chest except it was 5 times worse than any heartburn he had. He had no radiation of pain to his arms- there was a little sweating but nothing major.

At the ER, his EKG and blood pressure were normal. His initial bloodwork was ok except for the Troponin which showed .11. The ER doc said .15 was considered high, but that most people he saw had significantly lower Troponin levels than my dad so he had him stay overnight for observation. The 6 hour Troponin showed something like .08 and the 12 hour Troponin showed .04 - normal levels. So they released my dad and the doctor said he didn't know why his Troponin went up then down but that if he'd had a heart attack the 6 and 12 hour Troponin levels should have gone up and that didn't happen- they went down. The doc said he couldn't be sure but felt it was likely gastric in nature.

My dad now feels fine and wants to forget about the whole thing, and I can't convince him to see a cardiologist. My feeling is that since Troponin is a cardiac enzyme, there must be some cardiac reason for the spike. So my question is: is there some non-cardiac reason to account for a .11 reading going to .04? My dad was drinking cheap wine and he thinks that's what caused his severe heartburn. I know that wine can be highly acidic, and he did have a burning pain, which is consistent with heartburn more so than heart attacks. But that doesn't explain the Troponin.

If this wasn't a full-scale heart attack, could it be stable angina? Any other possibilities? Finally, if my dad insists on not seeing a cardiologist, what kind of things should I look for in the future?