Persistent cough

[Patrick Haley]

I am now three weeks away from my AVR/MVR/maze procedure with Dr McCarthy.I have had a persistent cough for the past five years that comes and goes but lately it seems to appear in the morning and somewhat fades away by the afternoon. It is a dry cough and my local cardiologist ordered an x-ray taken last week. The x-ray does not show any type of fluid build up. In 2003 I had a pulimonary vein ablation performed that was aborted due to respiratory failured during the procedure.The cough has been with me on a daily basis since this failed procedure. Two catscans have also shown no issues.
Has anyone had a similar coughing issue prior to valve replacement, and could this be a symptom of my valve disease?

Thanks again for your support on these pre-surgery jitters. As you can probably imagine I have a concern about this cough giving me some serious pain issues after surgery.

 

[rbl1999]

Hi, Patrick, I recently had AVR and did in fact have a cough for some time before the surgery. My cough was mostly at night and I would have to get up and stay up a while until it subsided. I have not had it since my surgery in July. I think I have read that this is a symptom of aorta valve disease, but there will be others along to confirm that.. Rose

 

[Kate]

Hi Patrick,
I had a chronic cough that cleared up after surgery, but I had assumed it was a symptom of my aortic aneurysm as I've never seen it listed as a symptom of aortic stenosis. Thanks for writing - I had surgery 5 weeks ago and hadn't realized it was gone until I read your post! Kate

 

[Mary]

I had a persistent cough after my valve replacement. I found out after my echo that I had pericardial constriction. It was a result of the surgery, and it causied swelling in my carotoid arteries along with hand, feet, and abdomen edema. After starting Lasix, the cough disappeared. It only returns when I don't take the Lasix.
You can have fluid buildup that doesn't show in an X-ray. Hopefully your cough will resolve after your operation.

 

[Curtsmum]

My son has Mitral stenosis, he often has a cough,when he started complaining of chest pains and he sometimes looks blue around his nose, i decided to phone the hospital the lasion nurse said she didn't think it was conected to his condition. She said his tonge would be blue if there was a problem. He goes for the check up in 6 weeks, then we will find out when he will be having his mitral valve replaced. I personally think that his cough is a symtom because he gets it so often but i will only know for sure after he has surgery.

 

[tobagotwo]

One thing you can look for is pulmonary hypertension. It can cause a cough, and is almost always overlooked on the echoes. (They're heart doctors, not a lung doctors, so they usually just don't look. )

Cross your fingers it will go away after the surgery. If it's the valve, it may be a solid fix. Sometimes fixing the valves also fixes PH, sometimes not.

Best wishes,

 

[PaulW]

Productive cough

Productive cough

I had a mild intermittent dry cough for years before my AVR. It was always worse at night. AFter surgery it intensified and became a productive cough which seemed to clear my lungs and actually be helpful (although it hurt my chest and I kept my little heart pillow nearby). Now to my delight, two months post-surgery I find that I have no cough at all. Hopefully your experience will be similar.