Anyone had Valvuloplasty? (esp. Mitral)

[ALCapshaw2]

Has anyone had a valvuloplasty? I'd be interested in hearing about your experience, especially for the mitral valve. What did your Cardiologist say about risks / success rates, particularly in (older) adult patients?

Anyone know of a good interventional cardiologist who does valvuloplasties in the SE USA. ALA, GA, and TENN would be especially convenient for travel by car.

'AL' in North Alabama

 

[Bunny_Rabbit]

Hi Al

Hi Al

Idunno if you ever got my reply to your post a way back, but here's the link to it again if you're interested.

http://www.valvereplacement.com/forums/showthread.php?p=80215#post80215

My Mitral valve area went from 1.5cm² to 2.38cm² with the Valvuloplasty. According to my Cardiologist, there was "a significant but incomplete opening" of my valve and there was "definate improvement".

As of my last echo in May/04, my MVA is now 1.8cm².

Well, hope I helped.

Take care.

 

[ALCapshaw2]

Thanks for the link back to my previous thread Bunny.
I'll plead 'pumpheadedness' for forgetting about that one.

My MVA has gone from 2.5 to 2.0 to 1.5 sq. cm. in the last three annual echos. At that rate, I should become symptomatic sometime next year. I can already tell that I can't 'push' as hard when I exercise / work in the yard.

'AL'

 

[RCB]

Had an Mitral Val.

Had an Mitral Val.

Al,
I had one in 1996 when my ablation failed to halt my A-fib. Was told
it had a 1 % mortality. If you go that way, make sure the hospital has a
plan for OHS if things should go bad!

At best, they only last ten years. My MV only lasted a few years and then
my heart started to enlarge, resulting in a more complicated surgery years
after.

If I had to do it again, I would had skipped the Ablation, MV and had the
MVR and Maze in 1996. Had I done that, I feel I would of been in better
health the last couple of years and now.

Also, if yours is a high risk case, don't mess around with a local hospital
because it is convient- make the effort to go to one of the top TEN!
Good luck.
rcb

 

[kia]

Top 10 places for valve work?

Top 10 places for valve work?

So what are the top 10 centers/hospitals for valve repair and replacement?? My daughter (33) needs mitral and tricuspid valve repair or replacement and she's a high risk type (survived a coronary artery dissection and heart attack and is living with a Type B Aortic dissection that is 1 yr old; both dissections caused by an unknown connective tissue disorder that killed her father at 47, her grandmother and uncle in their 50's, and her great-grandfather at 53). Appreciate your opinion on the 'top ten' here.

Kia

 

[ALCapshaw2]

Hello Kia,

The Top 50 Rated Heart Hospitals can be found on the US News & World Report Website.

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/health/hosptl/rankings/specihqcard.htm

You daughter will want to ask for a High Risk Surgeon with considerable EXPERIENCE with her particular issues.

'AL'

 

[pegne]

Al

Al

University of Chicago Hospitals tried to do a valvuloplasty on me before I had my last OHS in 1999. It failed. All I remember about it was that it felt just like the catheterizations that I have had. Nothing really remarkable about it.

 

[joy]

I had a mitral valvuplasty in 2001 at UW seattle, and while it opened the valve up a little, it also cause me to have more regurge. I had my valve replaced less than a year later. I was a different case...mine was just meant to get me through my pregnancy...