Post PM Valve Surgery

Recent echocardiogram shows moderate aortic stenosis and moderate mitral regurgitation. Not sure yet if I will need valves repaired or replaced. Anyone face these surgeries and know what impact it has on PM already in place for two years? How much surgery can the heart take? All thoughts appreciated. Not scheduled to see cardiologist until January.

3 Comments

Moderate

by golden_snitch - 2013-11-18 06:11:15

I'd worry about it when time comes. As long as it's moderate, you'll most likely only need regular echo follow-ups every 1 - 2 years or so. It's not even said that this will progress to severe or critical, and also keep in mind that echo results depend a lot on the experience that the hands who perform the test have. Could be that the next doctor who performs the echo says, it's only mild stenosis/regurgitation. That you will not see your cardio until January also indicates that at this point, the diagnosis is nothing to worry about, nothing that needs immediate attention. Do you have any typical symptoms for those valve issues?

The heart can take quite a lot. Think of all the congenital heart disease kids who sometimes undergo two or three extensive surgeries before they start school. And I'd not count the pacemaker surgery as a "real" heart surgery as nothing was actually done to the heart muscle, the arteries/veins, the valves and all that. It's just that the leads were placed inside the right atrium/ventricle. Your heart can definitely take more than that.

my experience

by rnff2 - 2013-11-18 09:11:02

I have had 2 open heart surgeries, the last one in 2009. I had mitral valve repair (was scheduled to have aortic valve replacement that ended up not needing to be done), sub aortic membrane removed and a myectomy due to HOCM, sub aortic stenosis and cleft mitral valve that was found while in surgery. The myectomy was "extensive" and they think I developed the AVB due to the myectomy. I had my pacemaker placed May 2013. I have been short of breath since. 3 weeks ago I had a TEE and cardiac cath. We found my mitral valve regurgitation to be worse than we thought on previous ECHO's. They are rating it a 6 on a 1-10 scale. So we are consulting my other cardiologist to determine when I need to have my mitral valve replaced. My local cardiologist wants me to hold off as long as possible because of my extensive heart history. I don't think my pacemaker will have any impact on the surgery, but that's a question I still need to ask. My heart has been thru a lot and it's still pumping strong and ticking away even if it needs a little help once in a while. ;) Take it one appointment at a time and try not to stress over it. Hope I was able to help, or at least calm your nerves a little.

Mitral valve

by Theknotguy - 2013-11-18 10:11:54

Cardiologist was checking mitral valve. After I got the PM I asked about the mitral valve. PM doctors didn't see it as a problem since it was in the lower range. (20's I think)

My cardiologist wanted me to keep exercising - I was doing a lot of walking before the PM. So the exercising had helped keep the heart muscles strong enough to survive when I collapsed. They said my collapse was equivalent to running a marathon without doing the training.

So if you have the mitral valve in the low range and keep exercising it will hopefully help you. A lot of people are walking around with mitral valve leakage and don't even know it.

The heart can take a lot of stress and keep on going. Hang in there.

Hope this helps.

Theknotguy

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I just want to share about the quality of life after my pacemaker, and hopefully increase awareness that lifestyles do not have to be drastically modified just because we are pacemaker recipients.