Tachycardia following Mitral Valve Repair

[Dorothy Sucre]

My son had mitral valve repair 5 weeks ago. His resting heart rate is now between 100 and 112. He has been going to rehab for one week. There they told him he has  a few PVCs. He exercises on the tread mill at 130 heart beats per minute for 35 minutes. Following exercise he feel quite tired.

Is it normal for the heart rate to remain this high following surgery? Prior to the repair his rate was about 64 beats per minute. Thanks for your reply.

[Cleveland Clinic, MD]

There can be some "irritation" of the heart muscle for up to 6-8 weeks following surgery and this can contribute to increased heart rate.  In addition deconditioning from the surgery and bed rest elevates the heart rate.  I would suggest continuing in rehab and I suspect the HR will return to normal.

[shannon]

Hi -- I had the same experience following mitral repair.  Following surgery, my rate was a little high, but at four months post op it suddenly jumped up into the 115-130 range and stayed high consistently. I was (and still am) taking beta blockers to keep it in a more normal range.  Because my rate was pretty normal up until four months post op, my cardiologist had an EP study done as well as a TEE to make sure everything was functioning properly.  After ruling out any problems -- and everything checked out just right -- my doc told me it is common to have rhythm disturbances for up to several months post op. So I think it's likely he's dealing with a relatively common part of the recovery process.  

Hope everything continues to go well for him and your family.  

Shannon

[Nathan Jones]

Dear Dorothy:

     I had a mitral valve repair in september, 1998 and found that my post-surgery resting heart rate (85) was quite a bit higher than the pre-surgery numbers (53).  I mentioned this to both the heart surgeon and the cardiologist and they didn't have any specific idea as to the cause, but though it was probably caused by the trauma to heart nerve pathways during open heart surgery.  They suggested that a touch of a beta blocker drug would help.

     I also occasionally had SVT's folling excercise.  I found that it is very important to be fully hydrated when exercising.  Gradually, the SVT's went away also.  

     Over time (approx, 9 months) the resting heart rate has decreased to about 65-70.  In short, speak to you doctors but you can probably expect the heart rate and arrythmiaas to decrease with your full recovery.  I estimate that it took me about 9 months post-=surgery to feel completely recovered and I was in fairly good shape before surgery.  (46 yr old male and I excercise 5-8 times per week)

Best of Luck

Nathan

[Cleveland Clinic, MD]

Thanks for your comments

[Hank Eyring]

Hello There Dorothy,

I am writing you to let you know about a list that myself and several other Aortic Valve Replacement patients have going.

I am a 33 year old male who had aortic valve replacement surgery in April of 1999.  I often had questions about stuff like what do other people’s spouses think about their valves clicking, to how do the kids deal with Dad having major surgery.  Also issues about what is involved in approaching surgery, going through surgery and recovering from surgery. We also discuss the use of coumadin since most of us have to take it for the rest of our lives.

If you would like to join a mailing list along with folks who have been through this kind of stuff before and are facing it in the future, just go to the following URL and sign up.

http://frontpage.inficad.com/~hanky/heart.htm

You will find much help with this list and we all learn from each other.

Hope you can join us,

Hank Eyring

[Cleveland Clinic, MD]

Thanks Hank.

[Sandra Nov. 25, 1999]

My husband is scheduled for mitral valve replacement in a week. I am trying to learn something about mitral valve surgery repair/ or replacement and the answers given on the forum have little depth nor do they answer the question. i.e. a person ask how one can find out a surgeons track record, how often they have done a procedure. You did not answer the question. Where does one find out where a certain procedure is done most frequently and the better cardiologist and surgeons that do it.?

[Cleveland Clinic, MD]

There really aren't any direct sources for what you are asking.  There are some rankings such as US News and World report and some other "report cards" by various organizations but in general you have to rely on your doctor's knowledge and expertise to recommend someone to you.  Of course you can always ask individual surgeons these questions as well.

[Mark328]

A related discussion, High Blood Pressure after Mitral Valve Repair was started.