Risk of MVR Surgery w/ Excess Calcium

[ipom]

My sister is 57 years old. She is going to have mitral valve replacement surgery on March 23. Her surgeon talked with family, said the surgery is more risky than anticipated because the calcium that has built up around the valve has spilled over into the heart tissue. He said he expects it to be very difficult to remove the calcium from the heart tissue surrounding the valve (or maybe she said it spilled over into the heart muscle). Some calcium could chip off and go into an artery. Calcium buildup is bad and is near a major artery. He comes highly recommended by several others, including her dr. and husband's drs, so she has faith in his abilities. She lives outside New Orleans.

Surgeon basically levelled with sister and family and said she might not make it, since the calcium must be removed from the tissue in order to sew the valve into the tissue. I could have some of my terminology wrong here.

Have any of you had any experience with surgery and excess calcium buildup? Is there anything she should know?We don't want to lose my sister. She is in good health otherwise. Learned of the MV problem this past December.

Alice

Or maybe someone knows where I could go online to get info.

My email address is [email protected].

 

[tobagotwo]

Obviously, we can't have the full story from a post, but I'm going to go out on a limb a little here. It sounds like you might want to look for a surgeon with more experience with difficult cases, at another facility. There are blood filters and other measures that might be in use at a more advanced facility.

The Cleveland Clinic comes to mind, or Boston's Brigham and Women's. I would look for another surgeon's opinion, but it would be one recommended for his ability, and from a different and more advanced hospital than it sounds like your sister's been to so far.

One of the questions to ask is what would they do about the possibility of calcium plaque breaking away into the bloodstream. Good luck on your hunt for a surgeon and a hospital.

Best wishes,

 

[Computec]

Calcification

Calcification

Which test is used to determine if there is calcification?

When I had my valve surgery preop testing was limited to a cardio cath and not a TEE. My surgeon said that he wouldn't know if he would repair or replace until he "saw" the valve. Calcification was the deciding factor and he replaced it.

Ipom... I agree completely with tobagotwo. Check out getting a second opinion. Even a third. I asked cardiologists and neuro surgeons for recommendations of who they would use if they were having my kind of surgery and they were almost unanimous on the surgeon and surgical team I chose. Keep in mind that surgeons are only as good as the team they've assembled. Mine was tyranical and demanding of his team, from the assistant surgeon to the infusion technicians to the post operative CCU nurses. They all feared him and respected him and therefore performed for him. His reputation for sucess proves this. He was my greatest advocate next to my wife, Suzanne.

Knowing what your first surgeon is saying, I would approach other highly recommended surgeons with the test results showing the specific issue before I'd let one do the job. There are surgeons who are more gifted and experienced than others with specifically difficult tasks.

Someone please banish my ignorance. Is the TEE used for determining calcification? What does this test entail?

Jerry

 

[Praline]

I am so sorry to hear about your sister's problems. I am from right outside New Orleans. I just had Mitral valve repair and one bypass at Ochsner Hospital. Do you mind if I ask what hospital your sister is planning to go to have her surgery?

 

[maka]

Sorry to hear about your sister but I agree that it may be advisable to get another opinion from an experience surgeon. From whaat I have read it's not uncommon to have calcium deposits around the valves (stenosis, I believe is called) that it is removed at the time of the operation.
The Texas Heart Institute may be more convenient to your sister and they certainly have good teams