BAVD Inherited??

[Warrick]

Hi, I've not long (4th Nov) had surgery to replace my leaking bicuspid aorta with a mechanical valve, I'm 39 years old. I have 2 boys aged 15 and 17 and a daughter aged 11, the cardiologist wants to scan my children as there is a chance BAVD is genetic, has anyone else had children inherit this from them or a family history of BAVD? Sorry if this has been asked before, thanks

 

[dick0236]

Welcome to the site. Bicuspid valves are a genetic condition and are quite often passed on to succeeding generations. You will find many posts on here about BAV being passed genetically. My valve disease was due to Scarlet/Rheumatic Fever infection altho there is a small chance it was bicuspid as well. I had my adult sons evaluated and apparently they are OK. However, I have a daughter-in-law whose father and uncle have both had BAV replacements and now one of her nephews has been diagnosed with a BAV.

 

[cldlhd]

It can be passed on so I would have them scanned. I had my 9 year old son scanned and fortunately he doesn't have a BAV.

 

[AZ Don]

FWIW, none of my immediate family (3 children, sister, parents) had it - they were all checked. No reports of it in my extended family (cousins, Aunt, Uncle) either. While it can be inherited genetically, it can also be spontaneous.

 

[Warrick]

Thanks, even tho my BAVD doesn't appear to be genetic from my family I have a huge family history of valve disease, my father has had a mechanical AVR 31 years ago due to rheumatic fever, he's 73 now on the same valve, his sister had a porcine aortic valve at 65 but died soon after surgery, and from what I can get out of my father his first cousin had a mechanical valve from rheumatic fever (he died after 11 years of a small internal bleed from an internal cut in the wrong place at time of surgery) and two of his other cousins all had mechanical valves. Heart disease is a sod, especially when it's there from birth just waiting to rear its ugly head.

 

[Paleowoman]

None of my family had BAV - I cheked into what my gradnparents and great grandparents, uncles, aunts, etc died from. Not even heart disease ! There's a lot of longevity in my family - though my mother died at a young age 72 from a heart attack due to smoking, and drinking, heavily. My son and nephew seem fine - not that they've had echos but both have had their hearts istened to - no mumurs. I seem to be the only one with BAV.

 

[dornole]

Susceptibility to rheumatic fever can also be genetic, it is related to having a certain tissue type that the immune system confuses with strep virus. Haven't had the kids checked because there is not much to do about it. My sister who is a doctor checked herself and does not have it.

 

[cldlhd]

As far as I know nobody else in my immediate family had BAV but who knows? I didn't know about mine until 45 so who knows If some had an undetected bav that didn't cause them any problems and died from something else.

 

[Paleowoman]

Iwho knows If some had an undetected bav that didn't cause them any problems and died from something else.

That's a great point you've made there. Apparently a huge number of people with BAV never need the valve replacing. They can live a long life with no problems so no one might ever know they had a BAV. So maybe some of my grandparents or great grandparents had it but lived a fine long life despite it !

 

[BAVCyclist]

My twin brother was diagnosed with BAV after I was - we were adopted, so I don't know how pervasive it is among genetic relatives.

Doesn't hurt to get family members checked out - Good luck, Warrick!