Chuck, Thanks for posting that “Iconic figure”, by Ross and Braunwald in their 1968 article. (FYI - I have studied and researched it over a few years, supposedly, it came out of a “sketch” on a napkin that they thought was the best “visual-aid” to help explain Aortic Stenosis in their presentations. My understanding is that it was not a result of actual data, simply a great way to convey their findings.
Anyway, regardless of how accurate it actually is (and of course it is now totally outdated and you’ve likely seen the newer version where the “onset of severe symptoms” appears about 80). In any case, it still conveys the key points, as you point out.
But it also highlights the difficulty that anyone in my “twilight zone” faces, that being, how do I know when my “symptoms” become “Severe”? (Severe enough to warrant some medical intervention?) That’s what many of us struggle with. That’s why I suggested the “AS Symptom Tracker” may help.
On my doctor, let me more accurately present what he is telling me. He doesn’t make decisions alone, the whole cardiac staff (including the surgeon who did my quad by-pass 7 years ago), all meet and make joint decisions on each patient. What he said was, they are often hesitant to recommend intervention when the patient doesn’t present with relatively serious symptoms. (Pretty much like the chart says, “onset of severe symptoms”. This is totally understandable in our modern world of possible legal actions.
In my situation, I had an Echo last week, and will be seeing my cardio doc next week, to hear of the results and his recommendations.
