Tricuspid valve

JohnW27 · Feb 7, 2005

Hi everyone, I'm 27 and had a tricuspid valve replacement (tissue - pig) in 2000 due to endocarditis. I have mild mitral regurgitation, moderate tricuspid regurgitation, and minimal enlargement of the right atrium. I need your help in clarifying a concern I have. I have previously posted a similar question but would like to settle the matter.

I asked my General Practitioner about my life expectancy with my condition and he replied without much thought that they will get me to 70. He knows no more about my condition than I have told you. Is this a correct assumption?

My grandfather has had two heart attacks and stroke since he was 60 due to poor eating habits, and over working him self. He is now 86 and still going strong. I am slim, eat extremely well, and exercise regularly. My EF in normal and rest of my heart functions well. Provided my future valve replacements go well (due to the tissue valve expiring), do I have every chance of living as long as my grandfather?

Abbanabba · Feb 7, 2005

Gee John, that's kinda like asking how long a piece of string is!! With advancements to medications and medical procedures, you may well live to a ripe old age. More and more of us with heart issues are living beyond initial expectations. With my particular defect, for example, people didn't live beyond their teens at the turn of the last century, yet I know one of the "pioneers" of the medical procedures on this defect who is now in his late 60's.

Providing you take good care of yourself and keep on seeing your cardio, you should definitely increase your chances of a long life.

Cheers
Anna : )

Gnusgal · Feb 8, 2005

Doctors cannot predict this sort of thing and he really shouldn't have tried. I know so many people who have lived beyond the age that they were told they wouldn't live past (I, for example, wasn't expected to last past my teens). Do not take what your doctor said as anything near the truth. People have a way of surprising doctors at every turn.

Nancy · Feb 8, 2005

My husband wasn't supposed to live past 50, but he's now 73, and he's had three valve surgeries and two lung surgeries and has a TON of serious medical problems. And by the way, he has a leaking tricuspid valve probably in the moderate range right now, and no one has mentioned replacing it. He is functioning OK.

So don't go by what anyone says.

Get the very best medical care you can, and make no compromises in your care. Be proactive and once you have a team of doctors you trust, do what they suggest.

Go--Enjoy your life!

geebee · Feb 8, 2005

It's interesting but I have never asked my doctors that question. I guess it's just something I don't want someone else deciding (or jinxing).

As others have said, doctors don't really know. Your doctor probably tells everyone they will live to 70.

I have gone through stages. There was a time I was convinced I would not make it to the millenium - made it. There were times I did not think I would see 48 (the age that my dad died) - made it. Thought I wouldn't make 50 - wrong again. So I have stopped the guesses and am just happy being around.

No one knows how long we have except God and she isn't telling. It's not always easy to try and focus on other things but, for your own sanity, you should make that attempt. Or, at least, find someone who will tell you you're going to live to 110.

Harpoon · Feb 11, 2005

JohnW27 said:
...do I have every chance of living as long as my grandfather?

Yup, and maybe then some.

Mechanical valves seem to have the potential to far outlast their "hosts" just be their very nature, being plastic and metal (or carbon fiber or whatever you wanna call it) which isn't biodegradable like the rest of the human body is.

If you live a good life, take care of yourself, eat healthy, don't do drugs or smoke or drink (in excess at least) then you should live to a ripe old age as long as something else doesn't get you first. The artificial valve probably won't be your death nell, not in the least.

And a positive attitude helps too. Be active, be responsible to yourself and your health. For most of us, an artificial valve is quite literally a second chance at life and it's not something to be taken lightly by any stretch of the imagination.

Plus, bear in mind that medical science and technology is always improving and they're always finding newer or better ways to maintain organs such as the heart which might not be 100% perfect. The first successful repair for the heart condition I was born with with performed on in 1966 (roughly, I might be a year or two off.) Before then, it just couldn't be fixed and if you find someone who says they have transposition of the great vessels, they've either been EXTREMELY lucky or they have the congenitally corrected form of the condition where the heart adapts to the malformations that occured during fetal development.

The Blalock-Taussig shunt was one of the first advancements in treating children born with a congenital heart defect. It was developed back in 1944 and used to treat one of the most common heart defects, blue baby syndrome where a newborn is cyanotic at birth, that is, oxygen is unable to circulate through the body properly.

Before that time, pretty much no child born with any form of a heart defect could be kept alive through their early teens. 30 years after that the condition I was born with, one of the more complex heart conditions, was fairly easily repaired. A second proceedure to repair TGV came in the early 80's.

There's no telling what might be possible ten or twenty years down the road. So many good physicians are working on how to improve their techniques, how to offer their patients a better quality of life or extend it. Who knows what's down the road...

Oh yeah, and there's a LOT of money behind new advancements. If you're the next doctor to figure out a better way to fix a heart, EVERYONE comes to you for that fix and insurance companies are willing to pay for it. There's a lot of money in heart surgery.

Though I'll admit, most of it is in treating acquired heart conditions such as coronary artery disease and the like, not so much congenital stuff.