History of Endocarditis, had vsd closed, now found PFO (small)get breathlessness

[sarahnb]

Hi,

Three years ago I got acute Endocarditis (staph aurias) they then closed the VSD using the amplatzer device.  During the last 6 months I have been getting more and more breathless and fatigued.  I also get heart palpitations.  I contacted my doctor who referred me to my cardiologist, then had a T.E.E done 3 days ago and they found I had a small PFO.  I have been told to see my cardiologist in 6 months time!
Do you think this small PFO is causing my heart palpitations and my breathlessness?
I am not sure what to do now? I was thinking of making an appt with my doctor to discuss the breathlessness I still have.  Also what are the risks of stroke?
Thank you for any help
Sarahnb

[CCF-M.D.-MJM]

Hello Sarah,

I am sorry to hear about your recent health problems.  In general, small PFO's don't cause breathlessness.  It would be important to assess an pre existing heart dysfunction, specifically right ventricular function and pulmonary hypertension, prior to closing the VSD.  I would consider consulting an adult congenital specialist for their opinion and possible repeat of the some of your recents tests.  This is probably an issue your internist or family doctor rarely sees so you may be better served seeing a specialist.

With a small PFO, the risk of stroke is small.  Your doctors probably already told you that you should be taking an aspirin a day.

I hope this helps, thanks for posting!

[sarahnb]

Thank you for the reply and your advice, very much appreciated.

I discovered that after the Vsd was closed that asprin causes me to get asthma, so cannot take asprin.  I am 34 years old and a mother to three small children and I would love to get back to being healthy again.

Apparently I had a unusual endocarditis as it caused vegetation on 2/3 of my heart and only went onto the muscular lining of the wall of my heart and luckly not the valves.  I wanted to ask you, after the vegetation left do you think it would have left damage on the heart wall?  and what are my chances of getting it again?
I am so happy to have found this site because I find it so difficult to talk to my cardiologist.

Thank you again
sarahnbx

[CCF-M.D.-MJM]

Once you have endocarditis, you are at risk for recurrence.  You should take antibiotic prophalaxis for life when indicated.  If your doctor is that unavailable, maybe you should consider another doctor?  Your doctor may be very good  -- but if they can't answer your questions or don't have time, you are not truly being taken care of.

I think it is important to write down your questions prior to visiting your doctor -- people frequently are stressed at the office and often forget their questions.  I also encourage you to start asking your questions early in the visit.  We do our best to answer questions, but sometimes people don't start asking questions until 15-20 minutes into the visit.  It is an unfortunate reality that we sometimes have 20-30 patients to see in a day.  One way around this is to schedule a meeting with your doctor and make it clear that the reason is to answer questions.  We often get caught up asking you questions when the reason for your visit is to ask questions of us.

I hope this helps.

[skylergirl]

I had an ASD closure a year ago. There is still a small opening. AND after surgery I started  getting migraine headaces every day. The only med  that will stop the migrines is plavix.
Has this happened to anyone?
Skylergirl