Please Help!!!!!!!

[judy13]

Went in for cardiac cath this am and the cardiologist said it was to risky due to the vegitation on my aortic valve and cancelled it. They said they could do a CT scan of coronary arteries at another hospital and that would be adequate. Later my cardiologist called and said surgeon would not do surgery without cardiac cath, the CT was not reliable enough. I asked how could the cath be so risky one minute and ok a few hours later. My cardiologist said the Dr that was doing cath was very conservative. Frankly Im glad he was. So they now want another cardiologist to do it. Here is the my delema. Do I go ahead with cath and take the increased risk or get a second opinion from another surgeon. Anyone have vegitation on valve at time of cath? Did they say it had more risks? I spent the whole weekend stessing over the cath. really sucks may have to do it again. At this rate I may never get fixed.

 

[ALCapshaw2]

Hmmm... This definitely calls for a second (and third?) opinion.

I would start with the Surgeon, tell him what the first Cardio said and discern what HE wants you to do.
You could also ask for a second opinion from a Cardiologist with Lots of Experience in the Cath Lab.

'AL Capshaw'

 

[Lynlw]

Went in for cardiac cath this am and the cardiologist said it was to risky due to the vegitation on my aortic valve and cancelled it. They said they could do a CT scan of coronary arteries at another hospital and that would be adequate. Later my cardiologist called and said surgeon would not do surgery without cardiac cath, the CT was not reliable enough. I asked how could the cath be so risky one minute and ok a few hours later. My cardiologist said the Dr that was doing cath was very conservative. Frankly Im glad he was. So they now want another cardiologist to do it. Here is the my delema. Do I go ahead with cath and take the increased risk or get a second opinion from another surgeon. Anyone have vegitation on valve at time of cath? Did they say it had more risks? I spent the whole weekend stessing over the cath. really sucks may have to do it again. At this rate I may never get fixed.

I personally would look for another surgeon. Many doctors recomend NOT doing a cath with people that have vegitation on their valves from BE because the vegitation can be knocked off and travel to the brain ect. IF you are really set on THIS surgeon I would talk directly to the surgeon and not go 2nd hand thru the cardiologist.

 

[judy13]

Thanks Lyn, I am going to call current surgeon in the morning. Only saw him once, the day he said I needed surgery. So nothing to compare to. There are two well known hospitals in my area for OHS. I think I need an opinion from a surgeon from the other one as well. It just seems to be one delay after another. Now I need one tooth fixed and a deep cleaning. Dentist planned to have it all done for surgery 2nd week in August. Dont know how long it will take to get second opinion thanks to HMO.

 

[Lynlw]

I might have been a little harsh, I would definately talk to the surgeon and ask why he thinks a really good CT would not give him the information he needs to operate. I know some people with out a reason like vegitation, are able to have a really good (64 or 128) CT instead of a cath. Also ask him what could go wrong having a cath with known vegetation on your valves. It probably isn't a bad idea to get a 2nd opinion anyway, especially since you do have BE and that makes surgery itself a little riskier. You should ask the surgeons how much experience they have with valve patients after BE

 

[LisaD]

I only had a CT scan prior to my surgery, no cardiac cath. It was a specialized cardiac scanner, apparently good enough for my surgeon.

 

[Philip B]

Cath

Cath

Sorry to hear about your situation. I really wish they'd develop a way to get the information a heart cath provides via a less intrusive method. Poking around in there with wires and tubes just doesn't seem like a good idea.

-Philip

 

[Bill B]

My sugeon trusts the newer hi-definition rapid CT with contrast for coronary evaluation. I was glad I did not have to have a cath.

 

[Michelle D]

I'd send your records to the Cleveland clinic and see what they think. The first surgeon I saw said I had a 70% of making it through successfully. Cleveland clinic gave me 99.99%. Those numbers are well worth the trip

 

[ejc61]

Judy,
The two surgeons I was thinking about both wanted a cardiac (heart) cath and a CT Scan. The way that it was explained to me is that with both, you get a picture of the track from the heart, arteries, all the way down to the smaller vessels. It sort of like the cardiac cath looks at the waist up and the CT scan looks at the waist down. Dumbed down explanation but it made sense to me.
Does one hospital have a better rep than the other in your area? I would strongly take that into account.
I would try to get an explanation into the risk of a cardiac cath regarding vegitation. Don't be afraid of the cardiac cath procedure if there are no risks as described.
I think giving the surgeon as much information as possible prior to surgery is a good thing as described to me. You don't want surprises during surgery if at all possible.
Keep us updated.