rapid heart rate/cold hand&feet/low bp/tricuspid 3+ leakage/mvp

[shelly45]

New here and 31 year old female healthy eater,do not consume any caffeine,drugs or alcohol. Was excerising once a day but postpone until further notice by my md. My past history is asd repiar and mild mvp. Last year I had echo done and revailed a leakage of 3+ of the tricuspid valve a year before that it was just a 1+ not a misteak because it was done again to be sure. Just recently I been having problem with palpation,heart racing,blue lip,cold hand and feet,chest pains and shortness of breath. Went to my cardio and had ekg it was abnormal and heart rate was 110 resting. It would go as high as 210 to 230. I do have issues with low blood pressure.I had echo last week just waiting for results. He put me on toprol xl 25mg for the heart rate but not helping much.
Questions:
Can a leak change within a year time like this and will it change again for better or worse?
Should I be concern about my symptoms?
Should I ask for cardiac cath for futher investigation?
Thanks shelly45

[Forum-M.D.-bkj]

Shelly,

Thanks for the post.

Can a leak change within a year time like this and will it change again for better or worse?

A leak can actually change from day to day to some extent. Changes in heart rate, or blood pressure can affect valvular disease greatly.  

Should I be concern about my symptoms?

Generally, tricuspid regurgitation is pretty benign. Your symptoms I wouldn't specifically correlate with that condition and would look for other causes such as arrhythmias.  For the regurgitation, I would follow it over time and look for the development of conditions such as pulmonary hypertension or RV dysfunction.

Should I ask for cardiac cath for futher investigation?

A catheterization would not lend any particular information to the regurgitation and it is usually best followed by echo.

good luck

[EchoTech]

1. Yes a leak can change quickly.  I do not know the etieology behind the leaky tricuspid valve, so I don't know if it could be surgically corrected to make it better.  The bigger concern would be if you are symptomatic or not.  Most people can function with a tricuspid valve like yours for many years without any serious consequences. As to whether it will change again, nobody can predict the future.  It might get worse, but I'm not sure if they would really do surgery or not.  I could guarantee that it won't get better with surgery unless pulmonary hypertension is playing a role which I really can't say from the information that you've provided.
2. You should continue to have the cardiologist investigate the symptoms.  It does sound like if your heart rate was really 210 or 230, then that could produce some of the symptoms that you were having.  I imagine that the doctor would be investigating that route.  I'm weak on arrhythmias, but it could perhaps be SVT.
3.I do not know enough from the info to say whether the cath would be beneficial or not.  Best guess is maybe if they are going to do an EP study on you.

Good night and good luck.

[shelly45]

I got my results of echo and everything is normal thank god!! He thinks it's inflamation (inflammation) of the thyriod because he felt something abnormal there and blood work showed something so I have appointment Tues to find out what's going on. Just want to know can inflamation (inflammation) of the thyriod cause rapid heart rate? Can the inflamation (inflammation) of thyriod cause symptoms like rapid heart rate,fatigue, being cold,and not able to gain weight? If it is this what kind of treatment plan would be needed or will it be a watch and see approach?

[hockeycrazy3033]

Shelly, inflammation of the thyroid can definitely cause all the symptoms you just mentioned. There is hyperthyroid *which speeds up your heart rate, makes you lose weight, irritable, fatigued, dry skin, etc..* and then there is hypothyroid *which is pretty much the opposite in that you gain weight, and your metabolism isn't working efficiently and your thyroid hormones are not producing enough.*

[EchoTech]

An out of wack thyriod can cause some of those symptoms.  I do not know what approach they would take, but I imagine that there might be a possibility of having to take thyroid medicine the rest of your life.

[laskojthree]

A related discussion, can a ulcer attack cause a rapid heart rate and high blood pressure with tingeling all over was started.