A study published in the January 2014 issue of the Journal of Invasive Cardiology showed that small cerebral microemboli (blood clots) occur regularly during coronary arteriograms. While this leads to micro-strokes, they are usually occult and are not associated with obvious deficits. Nonetheless, they occur as a routine and do cause small areas of damage to the brain.
The accepted complication rate of symptoms that are recognizable is 2% and include problems such as a ruptured coronary artery, heart attacks, strokes, abnormal heart rhythms, congestive heart failure, renal failure and infection. It remains important to understand that even though there are no clinical signs of damage to the brain that our wellness buffer is being used up.
