mitral valve replacement

[lengel]

I have moderate to severe mitral valve regurgatation and am seeing a cardiac surgeon today. I'm really scared of surgery. has any one had this done? any advice about finding a surgeon? I have cardiomyopathy with EF of 36%. I also have a implanted defibilator. I have been having episodes of severe chest pain. I was told it is not cardiac related. But it is so bad at times I can not lay flat, or even recline slightly I have to sit straight up. It hurts to breath and to bend over is impossible due to pain. If I take ibuprofen it helps. Sometimes this lasts for a couple of days? I was told this is pleuritic chest pain, which dosn't tell me much. Has anyone experienced this?


This discussion is related to Went to ER with Chest Pain - no diagnosis, but still paranoid.

[kenkeith]

I have moderate to severe MVR for years without symptoms, and I am a candidate for surgery.  Having said that, you want to find a surgeon that has had about a thousand successful valve operations...that would indicate about 5 years of successful experience...Mayo clinic and Cleveland clinic have qualified surgeons and very good hospital ratings.

Usually with MVR the leaflets do not properly close due to calcification or chordae tendae is elongated (chord that attaches to leaflet and muscle wall).  And/or the annulus (valve opening) is enlarged.  Mine happen as a result of an enlarged left ventricle, and it was thought a possibility for the valve to reverse remodeling when the heart returned to normal size but that didn't happen.

Keep us informed.  Take care.

[ed34]

I know if I had to have a valve replacement, I would be asking about having one inserted with the same technology angioplasty uses. This technique has been used with great success in Europe for a few years now. If you existing valve isn't too calcified, they basically feed a collapsed valve on the end of a catheter up to the heart. As the balloon is expanded, it squashes the old valve into the heart wall and the new valve expands into place. Recovery is very quick compared to open heart surgery.