Thanks Mark. I'll definitely check with my cardiologist. She seems SO reluctant to say yes to anything more than walking & swimming, and I respect her advice, but I really feel that I could be doing some light jogging if I watched my HR carefully. I had a balloon valvoplasty (spelling??) when I was 16. At the time I too had an enlarged left ventricle, which corrected itself after the balloon. Don't want that to happen again! Thanks so much for the helpMarkU said:
Bicuspid Aortic Valve Stenosis & Exercise
- Thread starter Ashley
- Start date
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T
TomS
AS with AR?
AS with AR?
Do you have any Aortic Regurgitation (does it leak) as well? I have a .8 stenosis, but since I also have AR I've been told that the immediate risks of fainting or worse are much less severe than only having AS. I have a bicuspid valve as well, and as I understand it, most of us also have AR.
Don't you hate that there are never any clear answers to this stuff?
Tom
AS with AR?
Ashley said:
Do you have any Aortic Regurgitation (does it leak) as well? I have a .8 stenosis, but since I also have AR I've been told that the immediate risks of fainting or worse are much less severe than only having AS. I have a bicuspid valve as well, and as I understand it, most of us also have AR.
Don't you hate that there are never any clear answers to this stuff?
Tom
Hi Tom,TomS said:
No aortic regurgitation (that I am aware of, but I think no). And yes, I totally hate how hard it is to get clear answers. I drive my cardiologist nuts with the questions that requrie definitive answers. I try to understand that it isn't a black and white matter, or an exact science, but that doesn't make it any easier to cope with. I guess we can just all do our best
R
Raverlaw
Ashley,
I see that you've already been pointed to some good resources. Read them and discuss them with your cardiologist.
I was at .6 when my condition was diagnosed. My ability to exercise had been declining for years, which I wrote off to getting older and having a desk job. ALthough I had a short wait between diagnosis and surgery (3 months), I immediately started to walk and tried to increase my stamina, which I think helped with my recovery. You sound like you're in pretty good shape right now - the key is to maintain while you're waiting for surgery, but not over do. Think endurance rather than speed! I recommend investing in a heart rate monitor - you will use it as you recover from surgery as well. Most will calculate your maximums based on your age automatically. For someone awaiting AVR surgery, I recommend exercising at no more than about 60% of your max heart rate. At 60% you should be able to go on for hours at a time without too much trouble. If you're experiencing high blood pressure as well, you should just follow your cardio's recommendations.
And don't let your cardio talk you into waiting for surgery - my life improved 1000-fold after AVR surgery and it made me wish I had known what I needed to do earlier in life.
If you do decide to wait, pay attention to what your body is telling you - if you notice a rapid decline over a 2-3 month period, increased breathlessness, or severe tiredness, tingling left arm or dizzy spells, get back to your cardiologist right away.
Best of luck to you-
I see that you've already been pointed to some good resources. Read them and discuss them with your cardiologist.
I was at .6 when my condition was diagnosed. My ability to exercise had been declining for years, which I wrote off to getting older and having a desk job. ALthough I had a short wait between diagnosis and surgery (3 months), I immediately started to walk and tried to increase my stamina, which I think helped with my recovery. You sound like you're in pretty good shape right now - the key is to maintain while you're waiting for surgery, but not over do. Think endurance rather than speed! I recommend investing in a heart rate monitor - you will use it as you recover from surgery as well. Most will calculate your maximums based on your age automatically. For someone awaiting AVR surgery, I recommend exercising at no more than about 60% of your max heart rate. At 60% you should be able to go on for hours at a time without too much trouble. If you're experiencing high blood pressure as well, you should just follow your cardio's recommendations.
And don't let your cardio talk you into waiting for surgery - my life improved 1000-fold after AVR surgery and it made me wish I had known what I needed to do earlier in life.
If you do decide to wait, pay attention to what your body is telling you - if you notice a rapid decline over a 2-3 month period, increased breathlessness, or severe tiredness, tingling left arm or dizzy spells, get back to your cardiologist right away.
Best of luck to you-
Hi Ashley, I was just curious do you see a pediatric cardiologist or a "regular" one? I hope you get some answers Lyn www.caringbridge.org/nj/justinw
This thread is 7 years old.
Does anyone know what that latest info regarding this topic is? I see many, many athletes who post on this forum and who were exercising right up until their AVR surgery.
On this thread, it seems like short intensity burst type of activities like basketball, tennis, etc. are contraindicated in someone with moderate and severe AS. Does this information still hold true today?
My husband has been sitting with an AVA of around 1.0 cm2 (and normal aortic root measurements) for the last 10 years and has played basketball for the last 40 years and continues to do so. He feels quite well during and after playing, and in fact, feels even better after exercising. When we saw our cardiologist 3 years ago, it was recommended to my husband, that he could continue doing this type of exercising. We see 2 different cardiologists in the next 2 months and we will be asking them both, their opinions on their exercise recommendations.
I was wondering, if there was anyone else who has BAV with mod/severe AS and a normal aorta, who has been given the go ahead to do sports with short intense energy bursts?
I read on another site, a cardiac surgeon suggesting that snowboarding was also contraindicated in cases like these (AS with normal aorta). Why would that be? Snowboarding (at least the way we ol' folk do it without the fancy jumps ) is not a cardio workout, does not involve short intense activity bursts, is not an isometric exercise, does not involve anaerobic activity, and is not an endurance exericise. I couldn't figure that one out.
Also, it appears that 7 years ago, cardiologists and cardiac surgeons often had different opinions regarding exercise recommendations. Has that changed? With all of the athletes on this site doing amazing things, I find it hard to believe that this conservative approach still holds true today.
Any and all thoughts are very much appreciated.
Does anyone know what that latest info regarding this topic is? I see many, many athletes who post on this forum and who were exercising right up until their AVR surgery.
On this thread, it seems like short intensity burst type of activities like basketball, tennis, etc. are contraindicated in someone with moderate and severe AS. Does this information still hold true today?
My husband has been sitting with an AVA of around 1.0 cm2 (and normal aortic root measurements) for the last 10 years and has played basketball for the last 40 years and continues to do so. He feels quite well during and after playing, and in fact, feels even better after exercising. When we saw our cardiologist 3 years ago, it was recommended to my husband, that he could continue doing this type of exercising. We see 2 different cardiologists in the next 2 months and we will be asking them both, their opinions on their exercise recommendations.
I was wondering, if there was anyone else who has BAV with mod/severe AS and a normal aorta, who has been given the go ahead to do sports with short intense energy bursts?
I read on another site, a cardiac surgeon suggesting that snowboarding was also contraindicated in cases like these (AS with normal aorta). Why would that be? Snowboarding (at least the way we ol' folk do it without the fancy jumps
) is not a cardio workout, does not involve short intense activity bursts, is not an isometric exercise, does not involve anaerobic activity, and is not an endurance exericise. I couldn't figure that one out.Also, it appears that 7 years ago, cardiologists and cardiac surgeons often had different opinions regarding exercise recommendations. Has that changed? With all of the athletes on this site doing amazing things, I find it hard to believe that this conservative approach still holds true today.
Any and all thoughts are very much appreciated.
ElectLive
Well-known member
To my knowledge, neither the Valve Disease Guidelines nor the 36th Bethesda Conference recommendations for competitive athletes have changed on this topic. Unfortunately, any of us could also ask 5 different cardiologists, and probably get 5 slightly different answers, if not polar opposite in some cases. Not that this will help much, but according to the Bethesda Conference, basketball is classified as a IIC activity (moderate static component and high dynamic component) while snowboarding is classified as a IIIB activity (high static component and moderate dynamic component). So, normally, by the book, not allowed, but again, that is competition level only, and that is without direct evaluation of your husband.
I think if there is one fairly absolute truth to be gleaned from all of the various guidelines and opinions out there, it's that if you really know want to gain confidence and know for sure about what's appropriate and what's not, exercise tolerance testing should be done at least to the level of activity as would like to be continued. If your husband feels fine, then sure, he likely is just fine. But exercise testing is really the only available double-check to make sure no potential problems are developing as a result of the exercise such as arrhythmias or hypertensive response, for example.
There are a lot of accomplished athletes on here pre and post surgery, and while a certain amount of caution makes sense, there is certainly no reason to exercise undue caution - so long as you are closely evaluated and monitored.
Again, thanks for the info ElectLive. I found your post very reassuring regarding the exercise tolerance testing.
My husband and I are only recreational "athletes" and we only do it for fun and fitness. It was very surprising to read that snowboarding is classified as a IIIB activity, but then again, maybe this makes sense at a competitive level. I just bought our season ski passes for next year.
With cardiologist #2, we are indeed getting an exercise tolerance test because cardiologist #1 (via her secretary) said that this wasn't necessary.
Yes, I completely agree with you, that there is no reason to exercise undue caution with close monitoring.
My husband and I are only recreational "athletes" and we only do it for fun and fitness. It was very surprising to read that snowboarding is classified as a IIIB activity, but then again, maybe this makes sense at a competitive level. I just bought our season ski passes for next year.
With cardiologist #2, we are indeed getting an exercise tolerance test because cardiologist #1 (via her secretary) said that this wasn't necessary.
Yes, I completely agree with you, that there is no reason to exercise undue caution with close monitoring.
mohel2
Member
I have just joined this site and this is a first post.
This is something I can relate to as I was diagnosed with Severe Aortic Stenosis in summer of 2005 and had surgery in Nov 2005.
I experienced no symptoms and was a regular walker. I was advised by my surgeon that I could continue walking but no heavy lifting or unusually brisk activity.
This is something I can relate to as I was diagnosed with Severe Aortic Stenosis in summer of 2005 and had surgery in Nov 2005.
I experienced no symptoms and was a regular walker. I was advised by my surgeon that I could continue walking but no heavy lifting or unusually brisk activity.
