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Heart Disease (Expert Forum)
Balloon Valvuloplasty for Aortic Valve Stenosis
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.
Balloon Valvuloplasty for Aortic Valve Stenosis
by Miriam__0, Jan 01, 1995 12:00AM
Posted By Miriam on July 23, 1998 at 11:19:29:
You have been very helpful to me in regard to my father's case and I have one more question to ask. My father, 86, is in the hospital with heart failure awaiting the opportunity to have open heart surgery to replace his aortic valve. The delay is due to the fact they are unable to find the cause of his anemia, which continues to be a problem. He had had a blood transfusion 2 weeks ago and got his hemoglobin up to 10.7 and it's now down to 8.5 and he had to have another blood transfusion yesterday. The cardiologist is concerned that there may be bleeding but the internist has arranged for every test known to man and found none. He has suggested there may be hemolysis due to damage caused by the narrow heart valve which sounds logical since my father never had anemia until the valve condition worsened.
My father's condition is declining while they continue to be concerned about this anemia. Is there an alternative to the valve replacement that could buy him time until they find the cause of the anemia? I'm concerned that he is not as good a surgical risk as he was before, due to this long delay. Would balloon valvuloplasty be a good interim step to enable his health to improve in order to withstand the open heart surgery? For that matter, would it be worth the risk to just go ahead with the valve replacement under the hope that the anemia is not being caused by bleeding rather than waiting until the whole thing becomes a moot point because my father dies? Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
You have been very helpful to me in regard to my father's case and I have one more question to ask. My father, 86, is in the hospital with heart failure awaiting the opportunity to have open heart surgery to replace his aortic valve. The delay is due to the fact they are unable to find the cause of his anemia, which continues to be a problem. He had had a blood transfusion 2 weeks ago and got his hemoglobin up to 10.7 and it's now down to 8.5 and he had to have another blood transfusion yesterday. The cardiologist is concerned that there may be bleeding but the internist has arranged for every test known to man and found none. He has suggested there may be hemolysis due to damage caused by the narrow heart valve which sounds logical since my father never had anemia until the valve condition worsened.
My father's condition is declining while they continue to be concerned about this anemia. Is there an alternative to the valve replacement that could buy him time until they find the cause of the anemia? I'm concerned that he is not as good a surgical risk as he was before, due to this long delay. Would balloon valvuloplasty be a good interim step to enable his health to improve in order to withstand the open heart surgery? For that matter, would it be worth the risk to just go ahead with the valve replacement under the hope that the anemia is not being caused by bleeding rather than waiting until the whole thing becomes a moot point because my father dies? Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
