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My understanding is they attempt to induce them (I've had a couple of ablations but my issues were not intermittent): Sympathomimetic agents (isoproterenol or epinephrine), methylated xanthines (aminophylline or caffeine), or awakening the patient on the table may provoke PVCs. Rapid atrial or...

Stress is definitely a known contributor to arrythmias. I was going to try to find a useful quote from a book I like to reference ["The Haywire Heart"], but instead will simply share that when I started by looking up "stress" in the index there were at least 25 references. I figured that make...

I agree that stress can certainly be a factor. Furthermore, if I interpret your exercise report correctly, you certainly are increasing your physical stress. My recollection from previous posts is you have done a lot of endurance activity; which would be consistent with 350km and 14 hrs of...

He/they have indeed been working on this for a while, but just 5 years ago they were in an early animal testing phase. From an engineering standpoint, going to a centrifugal pump concept is a significant departure from the first artificial hearts; as well as how that one in our bodies operates...

Yes but . . . . I'll first offer that I believe (and my experience was) that it takes 6 to 12 months for the rate to stabilize. Hence, I would not draw any conclusions at 10 weeks. Maybe it has adjusted . . .maybe not. Having said that, I had my mitral regurgitation corrected a decade ago...

When I was in my 40's (and at least 5 years away from my mechanical mitral valve) I developed atrial fibrillation that ultimately was addressed with an ablation. What was explained to me at that time was that everyone has this "hole in the heart" during neonatal development. This stems from...

Jackiecip: I am sorry to hear your situation as it sounds very similar to my own. I am a lifetime distance runner and had a mitral valve repair (with and annuloplasty ring) for regurgitation just before my 50th birthday. I recovered quickly and my doctors were very pleased however I literally...

I had both types about 6 months apart about a decade ago when I was 50. Here's a link to a few of my personal anecdotes from a couple years ago. My summary is to repeat what others have said: a) access (from the surgeon's perspective) should be the priority and b)at your age (if you are in...

Several things come in to play. Fundamentally, there is always the issue of the mitral valve not being round nor flat and that the two leaflets are not the same size. So a rigid ring (which is what my initial repair utilized) or a replacement valve with a rigid OD, both reduce flexibility...

That is an amazing picture! I'll share some perspective from a lifetime distance runner who had 2 mitral valve surgeries at the age of 50. As I obviously cannot truly know your exact situation, I'll just share some thoughts on what I would be asking/thinking about today "knowing what I now...

Because the study distinguished between "vigorous" and "very vigorous" I was curious about the distinction. The original Circulation article included: The volume (metabolic equivalent of task [MET] hours/week) and intensity (moderate [3 to 6 MET hours/week]; vigorous [6 to 9 MET hours/week]...

I have had that specific cocktail. I was prescribed the 25 mg Losartan immediately after my first surgery (Mitral Valve Repair). This actually works very well for me (to lower blood pressure) and I remain on this medication and dose today (~ 10 years after commencing). My problem was that...

As others have said, what the doctors (and hopefully you!) want to do is catch and address the problem before it worsens to the point where consequences are permanent and/or very severe. Here is the Mitral Regurgitation table from the 2020 Guideline for the Management of Patients with...

The attached document by some Cleveland Clinic doctors may be of interest. The section on mitral valve regurgitation starts on page 477. This is about a decade old but I found it helpful around the time I underwent mitral valve work. A key point is what has been previously mentioned: "In...

Not sure if this will be of interest to you but I had it in the file as it pertains to valve leaflet calcification. Talks about some things in common between leaflet and blood vessel calcification. Vascular Calcification: an Update on Mechanisms and Challenges in Treatment Here's some...

Procedures 4 & 5 are common for a patient undergoing OHS who has any history of AFIB. They are (relatively) quick and simple procedures if the surgeon is already inside of the heart.

Yes, the basic technique for mine was a thermal ablation with a radio-frequency catheter. Issue was several locations where the vein inside diameter was too large. In those locations the vein was surgically removed. I agree that I was quite fortunate! Lest I leave a wrong impression, the...

My experience might be interesting so I will share. It was actually a leg vein ablation that put me on the "warfarin for life" plan. I ended up with a pulmonary embolism. A clot formed in my lower leg and migrated. Warfarin cleared it up! So I was already on warfarin when I developed AFIB...

I had never thought about it before but it does make sense to me. The (kinetic) energy and momentum of opening movement get dissipated somehow/somewhere. In a native or biologic valve it will be the compliance of the soft (relative to a mechanical structure) tissue. I did learn a new word...

I had a routine checkup with my cardiologist this past week and learned something about the ticking that I had never thought about. He had a student with him, and after I had shared that "I can hear it when I want to" and (to the med student) "yup, the doc here told me years ago that if I ever...