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Heart Disease (Expert Forum)
Artial Septail Defect and Mital Valve
This forum is for questions and support regarding heart issues such as: Angina, Angioplasty, Arrhythmia, Bypass Surgery, Cardiomyopathy, Coronary Artery Disease, Defibrillator, Heart Attack, Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure, Mitral Valve Prolapse, Pacemaker, PAD, Stenosis, Stress Tests.
Artial Septail Defect and Mital Valve
by Shawn__0, Feb 21, 1999 12:00AM
In october of 1998 I had what my doctors are calling a mini stroke. After under going several tests in the couple of months following they found that I have a atrial sepail defect in the upper chambers and slight mital valve prolapse. The cardiologist I am seeing recommends that I have the atrial septial defect fixed sugically and that I do nothing with the valve, then take asprin for the rest of my life to control clotting on the valve. I am having a hard time with accepting this, if I'm going to have surgery why not fix both?
I would like your feed back / opinion on my concerns:
I have experienced chest discomfort and shorness of breath. Would the mital valve cause this or the atrial septial defect or both?
I ocationally feel like my mind is not as sharp as it was prior to having the mini stroke. Is there less blood flowing to the brain due to one or the conditions or both?
I am currently taking cumiadan, in your opition can I damage the lungs or heart by prolonging any surgery.
I have heard that the repair of the mitral valve does not last long, that a repair may olny last for 3 to 7 years them needs attention again. Do you feel they are a long lasting correction?
Thank You for your your time I'm looking forward to hearing your opinions.
Doctor's Answer
by CCF Cardio MD - MTR, Feb 21, 1999 12:00AM
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Dear Shawn, thank you for your question. There are two different areas to comment on. First, the atrial septal defect (ASD) needs surgical correction to prevent future strokes and possible irreversible damage to the heart and lungs from chronic elevation of right-sided heart pressures. It's hard to comment on your mental acuity after a "mini-stroke" since I've never examined, so I can't answer that question. Second, mitral valve prolapse (MVP) is a benign condition if there is no leaking of the mitral valve and doesn't need to be surgically corrected. In fact, surgey on MVP would probably harm the valve. MVP can be associated with chest pain, shortness of breath, and palpitations which are not harmful problems, but mainly are a nuisance. The exact cause of these symptoms is not known, but an abnormal neural connection to the heart is thought to be involved. Thus, I agree that you need surgical correction of the ASD with chronic aspirin therapy thereafter and that your mitral valve should be left alone.
I hope you find this information useful. Information provided in the heart forum is for general purposes only. Only your physician can provide specific diagnoses and therapies. Please feel free to write back with additional questions. Good luck!
If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please call 1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at www.ccf.org/heartcenter. The Heart
Center website contains a directory of the cardiology staff that can be used to select the physician best suited to address your cardiac problem.
