To my great surprise knowing I would need the valve replaced in the near future, following a recent Echo and CT Scan I was told I need a graft (Dacron) to repair aorta AAA as it is 52mm dilated
Is this rare and have many members had this double condition
Is the success rate similar to AVR and what is the long term prognosis
My operation is next month April and basically I'm quite frightened
Currently asymptomatic
Any help and advice would be a great help
Mike
No, this is not rare at all. It is not a separate issue but is a common part of the BAV syndrome. If you want some light reading, here's a paper on the "aortopathy" (aortic pathology) of BAV witten by my surgeon and his colleagues.
http://billsworkshop.com/Some_AVR_lit/Miller_Aortopathy_of_BAV.pdf
You should be thankful this was discovered and will be fixed along with the valve. I had more extensive aortopathy, involving my aortic arch as well as the root and ascending aorta - Also, not that rare according to my surgeon as he covered in the reference I cite above. So, I got a valve that had a Dacron sleeve already attached to replace the root and ascending aorta, and a separate Dacron patch for the arch of the aorta. The latter is a more risky part of the repair. The AVR and ascending aorta are routine repairs.
The odds are overwhelming that you will have a very successful surgery. Also, the repair is so good that almost always there are NO restrictions on activity after the recovery period (about 6 months). My surgeon was very clear that I am free to do whatever I want, period.
Like you, I was essentially asymptomatic, which makes the whole thing seem rather surreal, doesn't it? I mean, right up until the moment they wheeled me into the OR I expected someone was going to pop out from behind a curtain and tell me I had been "punked", if you know what I mean (from a US TV show involving complex pranks). It seemed like a cruel joke of some sort. But, no, it was very real. Despite the lack of symptoms, my life was in serious jeopardy from the valve and the aneurysm. As my surgeon said, my first symptom could be my last.
I know it's almost futile to suggest this, but please, try not to worry. This surgery is performed many tens of thousands of times a year and is the most successful form of OHS. Your surgeon is quoting mortality figures that sound like "all comers". A big factor affecting your outcome is your over all health. Many patients getting AVRs and aneurysm repairs have other serious medical conditions. In most studies about half the patients undergoing AVR have serious coronary artery disease, and that repair complicates the surgery and is riskier, or they have lung disease, kidney disease or diabetes, all of which increase the risk of surgery.
Take some time to learn more about your condition. If you do, I think you will find that you are almost certainly going to do well and that worrying is a useless waste of energy. It's the unknown aspects of this, something all of us must face if this is the first time, that is frightening. Since you had a valve repair before, you already know quite a bit more about what to expect than most others. Keep asking questions and reading and you'll do fine.
