parkinsons and fluid

[joe-coleman]

  My mother who is 72 years old had valve replacement and bypass surgery in July.
  Two complications have developed.  First she has been having fluid building up in her lungs.  The doctors have given her medicines to reduce the fluid.  They have drained the fluid and they injected a medicine to scar her lungs to try to stop the build up of fluid but the problem persists.   They have told us that the only option left is another surgery in which they will scar the lungs manually.  Do you know of any other treatment options.  Also, we live outside of Philadelphia, do you know of one  hospital  or doctor that specializes in this area?
  The second complication is that my mother has emerged from all of this completely confused.  She is having hallucinations and forgetting how to do some simple tasks.
  This seems to get better at some times during the day.   She does have Parkinsons disease but she did not have these mental problems before the surgery in July.   Can you suggest a course of action for my family to follow regarding this problem?

[CCF Neuro MD MJD]

Let's talk about the hallucinations and confusions - there are many causes for confusion.  In a 72 year old with medical disease, sometimes an equilibrium seems to exist with their mental status, if this is shifted by anything confusion  occurs.  This happens far more often in the elderly brain.  So Infection,  imbalance of electrolytes on blood work, and new medications would be things that might make her confused.  A change in environment when in a hospital could also cause confusion.  Obviously though, some things should be ruled out - blood work can easily look fro signs of infection or electrolyte/glucose imbalance.  A CAT Scan of the head could look for new structural brain damage - strokes can occur after cardiac surgery.  Ulitmately other tests mant be needed (EEG / spinal tap) but that depends on her clinical situation.  Regarding her Parkinson's - is she on Sinemet - that can cause hallucinations.  Perhaps she been on it a long time without problems, but was her dose changed.   Work with your doctor with the treatment of these hallucinations - Remember, many drugs used for hallucinations worsen Parkinson's.  Lastly, is she beeing seen by a neurologist.  With a good exam, he may be able to determine if any need for these above tests are indicated.  Ultimately, as I siad above, it could just be a coexisting medical condition affecting an elderly brain, but your doctors should certainly check for these other causes first.
Remember,, the forum information is for educational purposes only and does not substitute for a doctor's direct opinion for diagnositc and therapeutic options.