Congenital Mitral Stenosis

[tiffany]

Hello everyone!

I just discovered this forum after my cardiologist told me I am a high risk patient for pregnancy due to my heart condition.

Here is some background: I am a 32 year old female. I was born with mitral valve stenosis so it is congenital. I was told all my life that my condition is of mild form and I won’t need surgery until I am very old. I was also told it is quite rare to be born with mitral stenosis as most develop this condtion after a rheumatic fever.

Throughout my life i’ve been cautious of my condition, but it never stopped me from doing regular physical activities like working out or hiking. I consider myself pretty normal - but i have random palpitations when I intake too much caffeine or when I am aboit to get my period.. but this usually subsides with no issues. Once in a while my heart would start racing in the middle of the night but this is usually rare.

I recently got married back in July and my husband and I are ready to start a family… I was so excited until my new cardiologist told me I am a high risk patient and to hold off on pregnancy until we do further testing. This made me really sad as I started thinking about the risks and the worst case scenarios… I was diagnosed with a mild form of stenosis but she said I am actually considered moderate as definitions has changed throughout the years.

I want to bear my old child as I do not have money for surrogacy.

But from what I understand here are my options along with the risks:

- get pregnant but will have to take medication that might affect the growth of my baby (risk of premature, retardation, etc) … and my heart will have to work extra hard and the condtion might actually get worse

- do a repair or replacement before pregnancy. my doctor hasn’t suggested this yet as we’re still observing the situation.

i’m just very lost and confused on what to do here. i am scheduled for a stress test next month. shoukd i ask for the balloon valve repair? i know not everyone is a candidate. but i don’t know if it’s worth doing an open heart surgery just to have a baby. part of me says it will be worth it…

any advice would be appreciated

 

[dornole]

I replied on your other thread, but welcome!

 

[pellicle]

i’m just very lost and confused on what to do here. i am scheduled for a stress test next month. shoukd i ask for the balloon valve repair?

welcome aboard. I can't offer much on this specific topic other than to say "get some opinions and post them here" to get opinions an different viewpoints to those opinions.

There are people who can help and helping you to understand what those people (medical specialists) say and decide what's right for you is what this forum is all about.

Best Wishes and just take it one day at a time.

 

[Chuck C]

Welcome to the forum.

I recently got married back in July and my husband and I are ready to start a family… I was so excited until my new cardiologist told me I am a high risk patient and to hold off on pregnancy until we do further testing.

It sounds like you have some very difficult choices ahead. All of which have some major downsides.

My wife did not have mitral valve stenosis, but I'll share our experience.

During my wife's last pregnancy there were complications. She had placenta previa, which led eventually to an emergency C-section. She was losing so much blood during the surgery and the bleeding could not be stopped. A hysterectomy was needed to save her life. Of course, this left her unable to bear any more children.

We very much desired to have one more child and after looking into it for a few years, decided to adopt a wonderful 4 year old little girl, who had been orphaned. It was a wonderful experience. We love her every bit as much as our biological children and she has been such an amazing blessing to our lives.

Anyway, just want to let you know that there are other options to growing a family besides giving birth, if the choices before you appear too risky due to your valve condition.

 

[ValveAdmin]

Welcome to VR, Tiffany. I wish you all the best in your situation.

 

[Geofd]

Hello everyone!

I just discovered this forum after my cardiologist told me I am a high risk patient for pregnancy due to my heart condition.

Here is some background: I am a 32 year old female. I was born with mitral valve stenosis so it is congenital. I was told all my life that my condition is of mild form and I won’t need surgery until I am very old. I was also told it is quite rare to be born with mitral stenosis as most develop this condtion after a rheumatic fever.

Throughout my life i’ve been cautious of my condition, but it never stopped me from doing regular physical activities like working out or hiking. I consider myself pretty normal - but i have random palpitations when I intake too much caffeine or when I am aboit to get my period.. but this usually subsides with no issues. Once in a while my heart would start racing in the middle of the night but this is usually rare.

I recently got married back in July and my husband and I are ready to start a family… I was so excited until my new cardiologist told me I am a high risk patient and to hold off on pregnancy until we do further testing. This made me really sad as I started thinking about the risks and the worst case scenarios… I was diagnosed with a mild form of stenosis but she said I am actually considered moderate as definitions has changed throughout the years.

I want to bear my old child as I do not have money for surrogacy.

But from what I understand here are my options along with the risks:

- get pregnant but will have to take medication that might affect the growth of my baby (risk of premature, retardation, etc) … and my heart will have to work extra hard and the condtion might actually get worse

- do a repair or replacement before pregnancy. my doctor hasn’t suggested this yet as we’re still observing the situation.

i’m just very lost and confused on what to do here. i am scheduled for a stress test next month. shoukd i ask for the balloon valve repair? i know not everyone is a candidate. but i don’t know if it’s worth doing an open heart surgery just to have a baby. part of me says it will be worth it…

any advice would be appreciated

I had mitral valve repair surgery about a year ago they called it thoracic surgery my Dr was very confident that a repair could be made they make incisions under you right arm and do the repair from there, I was in the hospital for 5 days 1st couple was the worst but was an easy recovery, ymy Dr gave me options repair or replace, he said original equipment is always better to keep but he also gave me a choice of valve type if it had to be replaced.... My total recovery was 3 months

 

[dornole]

I should mention the recovery from the balloon is almost nothing, in fact I think I went home the same day. It’s a very good option fir mitral stenosis in the right patient.