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Heart Disease Community
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Thickening of heart/Mitral valve issues
by LeighAnn7, Jun 16, 2008 10:35PM
I am on a search to find help. Diagnosed with thickening of the heart wall and a weakened mitral valve, I am wondering is there any hope for a loved friend. The angina is an everyday battle and the shortness of breathe is infrequent. Does anyone know a successful procedure or med that has taken a positive direction for folks who suffer with this? What can help. is there anyone who specializes in complicated cases. We are at a loss where to begin.
Post Comment
What is the underlying problem for the thickened heart wall.
I am going to make some assumptions. The thickened heart wall is the left ventricle. This can reduce the capacity of left ventricle and with less filling capacity there will be less blood pumped into circulation with each heartbeat. Also a thickened wall will not contract effectively and impair the cardiac output as well.
Shortnes of breath can be due to the heart not getting enough blood/oxygen and cause angina (chest pain due to ischemia).
The treatment would be medication to reduce the heart's afterload so the heart works under less stress. The usual treatment is an ACE inhibitor and a beta blocker; the medication will dilate vessels reduce the heart rate.
If medication does not help and if MV disorder is severe, the valve can be repaired or replaced. If the thickened heart wall imposes a problem with electric conduction and cause arrhythmia, there can be an ablation of the heart wall.
Thanks for responding. He has two issues... the thickening of the heart wall and the MV disorder. When he was younger he did prolong drug abuse and was also genetically predisposed to this condition. I am not sure which causes the other. He is concerned of the longterm affects of ablation to his heart. We both want to see him live a long life...but we are scared. He is a Pastor now for 17 years. It's hard for us to feel confident. We wanted to be educated and understand this more.
The doc put him on Verapamil. Wanted him on Toprol. Dr said if not better in 3mo. he may consider the ablation...this just seems too soon...I am scared....he is scared.
these are helpful. i have these conditions
1-hcm
2-mitral valve prolapse an s7 meaning on the upper end of the scale
3-the arrhythmia (which has gone into 'ventricular fib' not just 'atrial
fib')
4-a prior mi or heart attack that has affected the septum.