[The Nicks Fix]

LA Times
December 28, 1998
Bypass Patient Suffers Fleetwood Mac Attack

By SHARI ROAN

This little case study from the Journal of the American Medical Assn. gives new meaning to the words "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow."

A 40-year-old man, fresh from bypass surgery, celebrated his recovery by attending a Fleetwood Mac concert 15 days after his operation. One hour into the concert, which was quite loud, with intense vibrations and shaking throughout the arena, the man began feeling soreness and noticed that his wound was beginning to ache. He left the concert early.

The next day, his sternum was extremely painful and the man began fearing he'd undone both his incision and his new life expectancy. A doctor determined that the incision was healing well and that no real harm was done, but the sternum remained sore for a few days.

"Fortunately, the chest appears to be only shaken but not (significantly) stirred by the loud music," said Dr. Stuart W. Rosenbush of Rush-Presbyterian St. Luke's Medical Center. But Rosenbush warned colleagues that this previously unseen side effect could become more frequent.

"As the baby boomer generation, who grew up with booming rock music (myself included), enters the age group in which coronary artery bypass surgery becomes more prevalent, this syndrome potentially could become more frequent," he writes.

So, cardiac bypass patients, choose your vibrations carefully (Stevie Nicks notwithstanding).


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