Cardio appt and Echo results

weekycat · Feb 28, 2004

Hi all,

I've been having trouble getting anywhere online lately, (noise on the phone line), so I'll post this quick since I was finally able to get here.

I had my cardiologist appt on Wednesday. I had been experiencing a lot of extra heartbeats etc, so after having worn a Holter monitor for 24 hours, I'd been waiting for my cardio appt.

My PCP had put me on 25mg per day of Toprol ( a beta blocker), after the results had come back.

Anyway, the Cardiologist said they were just PVC's, (premature ventricular contractions), nothing dangerous. He said it happens in about 18% of people who've had mitral valve surgery, and that we can treat it as aggressively as I want to. It doesn't need to be treated at all.. if it doesn't bother you.

I had still been having some, (not as many) on the Toprol, so he increased my dosage to 50 mg. per day. He said 25 mg was a "little ol' lady dose"

.

He then ordered an echo, and a stress echo.. mostly to put my mind at ease I think. I had the echo yesterday, and from what the technician said, nothing has really changed, although it won't be read by the card until Mon.

So.. finally I can quit worrying about this whole thing.. I think.

Ross · Feb 28, 2004

That's good news I think?

Be sure to get a copy of that echo report for yourself. What they tell you and whats in those reports are most often very different.

Good luck with your connection. Hopefully it'll be fixed soon.

Christina L · Feb 28, 2004

Jean,

I have been having a lot of PACs/PVCs (which I am not sure, although I have been told PACs) as of late also - I am only four months out from mitral valve repair. I find them very irritating and they make my mood irritable.

You are almost two years out from surgery and it sounds like you are doing great, besides the PVCs, of course. They are benign heart rhythms, so I've been told also. I just wish they would go away and stay away.

Glad to hear another mitral valve repair is holding strong (yours!) - it gives me lots of hope, even though my cardiologist told me his opinion is that my repair will last my lifetime.

Just curious, Jean, was your repair of your anterior and posterior leaflets or just the posterior?

Take care -

Chris

Karlynn · Feb 28, 2004

Jean,
I had huge amounts of PAC's and PVC's prior to my surgery. They reduced a lot, but I still experience some. I take 50 of Toprol twice a day and have for 12 years now. It seems to keep them at bay pretty well, unless I'm really tired or under a lot of stress. I was always told they were benign too. But I could feel every one and it bothered me, so medication was a good thing for me.

weekycat · Feb 28, 2004

Ross- I intend to ask for a copy of the echo report. I have copies of all my other ones and my heart cath etc. I wish I had asked for a copy of the Holter monitor report.. maybe I will. I like to do my own "research" as I know a lot of others here like to do.

Christina- If I was having any arrhythmia before my surgery.. I didn't notice. But since my surgery, I seem to feel every heartbeat a lot more than I did before.

To answer your question, both leaflets were in need of repair, with two of my chordae tendenae ruptured, so the surgery took somewhere around 6 hours to complete. I only saw my surgeon once, about a month after leaving the hospital, and he told me then, "That repair should last you a lifetime, now get out of here, I never want to see you again". I guess that was supposed to make me feel good

.

Karlynn- so far the 50mg per day seem to be doing the trick. He listed that as the first step and said we could go all the way up to Amiodorone (sp?) if we had to, and if I wanted to (I don't).

He told me "I wish I could tell you that your heart is normal, but you were born with an abnormal valve, and your heart will never be "normal".

He asked about my family heart history, and I told him that my father is currently on Coumadin for A-fib, and that my maternal grandmother had a pacemaker for years.. and he said that my having MVP and family history did put me at a greater risk for developing one or both of those problems.. some day.. as I get older.
I guess I'll cross those bridges when and if I ever get to them.