Comprehensive Case Study: Coronary Artery Disease
Jennifer Plucinak
Santa Barbra City College

Introduction My patient, C.R., went to his primary physician for complaints of dypsnea on exertion and frequent dyspepsia. The physician gave C.R. an exercise stress test and found abnormal ECG readings, and he was diagnosed with severe coronary artery disease. He was admitted to the hospital for a quadruple coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) a week later.
Patient Assessment C.R. has a history of type II diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and dyslipidemia. He also has a twenty-year history of smoking, and he has been drinking 3 to 4 beers every night for about the same amount of time. My patient is 5’11’’ and weighs 212 pounds, so he is overweight. He also stated that he rarely exercises, but is on his feet, and moving around at work. C.R. has no past surgical history. When I took care of him, C.R. was post-op day three from his quadruple coronary artery bypass graft. I didn’t notice any psycho-social issues with my patient. C.R. was a pleasant 61 year old, Caucasian male, whose wife was at his bedside throughout the day. He seemed well adjusted to his new diagnosis of coronary artery disease, along with his recent open-heart surgery. He was very cooperative with his medications, he used his voldyne every hour, and he walked several times a day. He was also very receptive to learning about his new diet plan and medications he would be going home with. He asked questions and asked for pamphlets that he could take with him. He and his wife were both retired with insurance so they weren’t stressing out about getting home as soon as possible, or how they would pay the bills. They had adult children whom lived out of state, and no animals to worry about at home. He listed Catholicism as his