Coreg and leaking Mitral Valve?

[Jkm7]

Hi All,

I have been reading this Board for a few months and have learned so much from this wonderful group of people. Thank you for sharing all of your invaluable information and experiences.

I hope you don't mind my joining my question here but this thread holds special interest for me.

I have suffered a heart attack and had double bypass surgery going on two years ago. I have made a good recovery and feel excellent. About 7 months ago, an echo showed I had some heart enlargement as it reshaped itself after my heart attack damage and because of the enlargement, a moderate to severe leak developed at my mitral valve. My cardiologist changed my beta to coreg.

I had another echo about six months after the first. A visit with my cardiologist this week informed me that the leak is now slight and my heart enlargement has diminished.

Is this fairly common with pharmaceutical treatment ---coreg? Is it likely to only be a temporary improvement and in time I should expect it to worsen?
My cardio is excellent about answering all of my questions and he answered many for me during my visit but some did not occur to me until after I left his office. He has me on a six month schedule of visits now....I was on four months so I guess he is feeling pretty good about my condition and progress.

Any info you can share with me would be a huge help. I have so very much to learn about all of this 'heart business'.

Again, thank you for this wonderful board.

 

[ALCapshaw2]

Welcome JKM !

The BEST way to get a broad response is to start your own thread under the appropriate Forum. Perhaps our moderator Ross will move your introduction and questions to a new thread for more exposure.

I've also had an MI, bypass surgery, and several years later developed Aortic Stenosis. The USUAL progression is for things to deteriorate which may vary greatly from patient to patient. The fact that your enlargement went down is encouraging (and somewhat unusual, at least from what I read in the many posts to our forums). Just be sure to continue your regular checkups, 'just in case'.

My cardiologist also put me on an ACE inhibitor which reduced my symptoms for a year but then my Aortic Valve became even more stenotic, nearly closed off, and had to be replaced. (Radiation damage from Hodgkins Disease treatment was a contributing factor in my case).

The fact that you have a good rapport with your cardiologist and that he is monitoring you closely (every 4 mos, now 6 mos) is also encouraging. If you become more symptomatic, be sure to call in and advise him of the change in your condition. It would be WONDERFUL if your enlargement never returns, but to be safe you should continue your regular checkups indefinitely so that any changes will be detected early.

Best wishes,

'AL Capshaw'

 

[Jkm7]

Thank you for your helpful response, Al.

Sorry that I did not mention that my cardio had put me on Ace Inhibitor (lisinopril) but had to stop it because my potassium went too high. He said that if the coreg continues working for me as well as it currently is, that's great and he'll leave my meds the ways they are. Luckily, I seem to tolerate the coreg fine and don't have some of the side effects some people have. If he doesn't like the progress, then he'll try another Ace Inhibitor type drug.

 

[Jkm7]

I was so hoping some of you could give me some idea of what is possible to expect. When he told me I had moderate to severe at the mitral valve, my head started to swim. Then this appointment when he said if was down to slight, have any of you heard of it remaining that way....not getting worse again?

Thanks for any information you can help me with. I don't have any friends/relatives who have any heart issues so I have few sources of info outside of my cardio.