17 years post surgery St Judes aortic valve replacement

[dsteil2]

Hi..I have a concern...my husband had aortic valve replacement 17 years ago (he was 40 years of age)...replaced aortic valve with a St Judes artificial valve...I noticed a few weeks ago that his heart is not beating normally anymore.....beat is weird/irregular...he went to doctor for a physical...doctor picked up on irregular heart beat...sent him for an ecg.....by the time he took the ecg...it showed normal...this morning lying in bed I listened to his heart again...it was beating irregular... again...we went for our morning walk...he went for a shower...after shower his heart was beating normal again...he has been tired latley....has had some uncommon back pain....
What's with all this regualr heat beat after excercise yet at rest it's beating irregular...no set pattern.......I am confused.....
Anyone else experience this?....is there some sort of heart failure going on? He cannot get to his specialist until August...Should we return to our family doctor or will he think we are nuts...I know this heartbeat is not normal...this is the third time I have intentionally listened to his heart while he was at rest (unbeknownst to him...he was unaware I was intentionally listening to his heartbeat) Any advise would be appreciated...I am worried...We have talked...he has said he doesn't feel right but won't return to family doctor at this point...says there is no need and that they won't tell him anything different because of the normal ECG....
Thanks for any advise you can give...
Debbie

 

[geebee]

Welcome aboard.
Yes, you need to get him in to see a doctor. This irregular beat could be many things from benign PVCs to A-Fib to valve issues. Only the doctor and an echo can tell for sure. If it is beat problems due to the valve, it might not even show up on an EKG.
Please have it checked ASAP.

 

[Lynlw]

I was thinking maybe he could use a holter monitor for 24/48 hours, then it would show his hr while doing different things , I think you should call and ask, good luck lyn

 

[dsteil2]

What is a hoiter?

What is a hoiter?

Thanks for your assistance people...what is this....

 

[dsteil2]

Holter Monitor

Holter Monitor

What is this monitor??? Would my family doctor have access to it???

 

[Georgia]

He needs to contact his doc - the back pain could be atypical angina and the doc needs to check it. And I really think that if the gp is not impressed, he should see a cardiologist soonest.

 

[Blanche]

For information on the Holter monitor, you could do a search. Here's one article to start you off...
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003877.htm
Blanche

 

[Lynlw]

What is this monitor??? Would my family doctor have access to it???

sorry . a holter monitor is basically a portable ekg, you have the leads on and they are hooked up to a little recording device (a little larger thn an Ipod) you usually wear it for 24 hours and it records all the info on a cassett, Justin just had one last week and his doctor had him wear it for 48 hours, he just changed the cassett after the first 24)
Lyn
www.caringbridge.org/nj/justinw

 

[Guest]

If it is atrial fibrillation (fairly common in vavlers) he is already covered from the worst problem that this causes, a stroke, by the fact that he is taking warfarin. If it is intermittent it will be missed when it is not actually doing it. Just like the noise in your car that the mechanic can't hear.