cherylchapa
Well-known member
Hi everyone. Chris had his cath yesterday and we are definitely headed for another surgery this summer. His cardiologist found that the left pulmonary artery is severely obstructed by scar tissue. This is the same place where his surgeon placed a patch to open it up during his OHS in 2009 when the pulmonary valve was replaced. It had about a 1mm opening. he tried to open it up with a balloon (angioplasty?) but was only able to enlarge it to 2 mm. His valve is leaking with a gradient of 30 (?). I'm not sure exactly what that means but he said it could wait to be replaced in a few years but the obstruction must be dealt with now. The cardiologist explained that the pressure to the lungs verses pressure to the body should be about 25% in a healthy person. At 50% we worry and at 75% they recommend surgery. He is at about 80%.
The cardiologist would like to do a sort of hybrid surgery where the surgeon would do a mini-thoracotomy and assist the him to place a stent via catheter directly through the heart wall. That would allow more time before another OHS and maybe a trans-catheter valve replacement in the future. But the surgeon here at CHOC may not agree to that. If he does not agree, he would have to have OHS to replace the valve and place the stent at the same time. If that happens we will be seeking a second opinion possibly at Rady Children's Hospital (not sure who) in San Diego or CHLA (Dr. Stearns). If we go elsewhere, there is no possibility of the hybrid procedure and they will not put him on the heart-lung machine and not replace the valve at that time.
Until then, Chris is limited to no sports, no PE, no active play. Summer is almost here so he will be free to laze around and play on the computer and video games. Baseball season is over so he's not too disappointed about that. It also rules out summer camp but we had a feeling. Being a kid with heart problems really sucks!
He is at home now recovering from the procedure. He was under general anesthesia for almost 5 hours so he got pretty sick after. He threw up most of the night but seems to have recovered and gotten his appetite back this morning. There has been no bleeding and no major bruising yet. He returns to school tomorrow which makes him reeeeeal happy.
Thanks for your continued help and support. It helps to talk to others who know what I'm talking about.
The cardiologist would like to do a sort of hybrid surgery where the surgeon would do a mini-thoracotomy and assist the him to place a stent via catheter directly through the heart wall. That would allow more time before another OHS and maybe a trans-catheter valve replacement in the future. But the surgeon here at CHOC may not agree to that. If he does not agree, he would have to have OHS to replace the valve and place the stent at the same time. If that happens we will be seeking a second opinion possibly at Rady Children's Hospital (not sure who) in San Diego or CHLA (Dr. Stearns). If we go elsewhere, there is no possibility of the hybrid procedure and they will not put him on the heart-lung machine and not replace the valve at that time.
Until then, Chris is limited to no sports, no PE, no active play. Summer is almost here so he will be free to laze around and play on the computer and video games. Baseball season is over so he's not too disappointed about that. It also rules out summer camp but we had a feeling. Being a kid with heart problems really sucks!
He is at home now recovering from the procedure. He was under general anesthesia for almost 5 hours so he got pretty sick after. He threw up most of the night but seems to have recovered and gotten his appetite back this morning. There has been no bleeding and no major bruising yet. He returns to school tomorrow which makes him reeeeeal happy.
Thanks for your continued help and support. It helps to talk to others who know what I'm talking about.
