Post surgery valve leak (regurgitation)?

[Darla]

My husband had an aortic valve replacement with the Edwards Pericardial aortic tissue
valve in 2007. I have been asking his cardiologist for a post surgery echo with every yearly exam since and was told this was not necessary yet. Finally, last month at his yearly cardio appointment they did an echo and said he has mild to moderate leakage around the valve resection. He did not use the term regurgitation but I assume tht is what he meant. ?? When I asked if this was evident on the echo done immediately post surgery I was told there was some leakage then and it looks "about the same." The cardiologist said this indicates a need to have a yearly echo prior to his yearly check each year to monitor it. Why, if this is "about the same" as after surgery and there was no yearly echo required before, there is now does not make sense but . . . I want to know if anyone else has had this problem - which the cardiologist said was common with a significant amount of pre-surgery stenosis and how concerned should we be? Any recommendations about where I can get more information about this, etc.

 

[Superbob]

I am sure folks more expert than I am will come along and reply, but my understanding that a small amount of leakage (meaning "mild," I suppose) is quite common, and not a cause for alarm. What "mild to moderate" means in medspeak, I am not sure. "Moderate" could be of some concern, depending on how it's defined.

I am puzzled as to why the cardio had not been ordering up annual echos. I am sure I have had them at least annually in the five-plus years since my surgery, Maybe others will check in on that point. I would not hesitate to ask the cardio for more information/explanation or even to switch to a different cardio if you believe this one is not up to par. Best wishes to you and your husband....

BTW, as veterans of the forum have taught me to do, always get copies of all your echo reports and results of any other tests. You are entitled to them. Also I asked for and received the tapes of my echos and C-scans to send to my surgeon in Virginia when there was a question about how the docs down here were interpreting them. I now keep all records on file, and of course if you change doctors for one reason or the other, the records are invaluable.

 

[daveguy14]

Almost everyone has mild leakage post-op. (Similarly, if everyone in the world got an echo, more would probably have a little leakage than not.) Whether your husband has more than that I don't know.

 

[ALCapshaw2]

I'm glad to see that your Husband's Cardio has finally 'seen the light'.

Personally, if I had a Cardio who did NOT perform regular Echo's, I would have been looking for another Cardio.

 

[deano89]

i agree with Al i had mv repair and have had 2 echos post op one at 4 days another at 6 months and the next is sheduled for april next year and will continue then anually from then on

 

[scott.eitman]

I have always had yearly echos pre and post op. As far as I know, leakage = regurgitation. I believe that the Ejection Fraction (EF) is an important indicator of how bad. The lower the number the worse the leakage.

If you cardio did not seem overly concerned, I do not think I would be either. 2.5 years ago, my cardio came in after an echo and said I needed surgery. I told him not yet. He had me do a stress-echo 6 months later and then came in to see me and said you are right. I was mental for 6 months, but I knew I was right. You have to look at the person and the echo result to know how to interpret the results.

I had leakage indicated with this new mechanical valve on my 1 day post of echo. It is what it is and is still better than the torn up old one.

 

[Lisa2]

Ditto what Scott said..I had leakage indicated right after receiving my homograft.