Dear Sandy,
I would recommend an appointment with a cardiologist ( either Dr, Hammer or Mills and a referral after that to Dr. Lytle ( a surgeon) if appropriate. As far as echos, as long as your sympotms are stable, yearly echos are fine.
Best of luck,
I plan to see a cardiologist at CCF in the spring. Is Dr. Lytle a surgeon? Should I make an appointment with him or with a cariologist for my first visit to CCF. I would like to wait until spring as I live a distance away and don't want to make the drive in the winter. I have my 3rd appointment with my local cardiologist in December and he said I will need my second echo shortly thereafter.
Does heart damage from this regurg. usually progress slowly over the years? Are yearly echo's adequate?
Thank you for taking time to answer my questions. You're all wonderful, and I'll keep you in my prayers!
Dear Sandy,
It is important not to miss your window for surgery with A!. It is important to perform surgery before your ventricle dilates and loses its pumping capacity. This is when surgery may not help.
It may be more technically demanding to do a valve with more calcification but certainly not impossible. We do plenty of these each week. I might suggest a second opinion to put your mind at ease.
I would recommend a consult with Dr. Bruce lytle here at CCF if that is an option for you.
It is most important for you to have faith in your cardiolgist and surgeon this will help alleve some of the worry.