Stroke, Atrial fibrillation, mild tricuspid regurgitation and Pradaxa user

Question

My mother is a 66 years old female who had survived her third stroke last August 2010. She had echocardiogram last year and it was found she has miild tricuspid regurgitation. After ten months, she had a transient ischemic attack and that was the time we discovered she has paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. She is a diabetic and hypertensive but these two are well controlled. Her medicines are Norizec 1 mg, Galvus 50 mg, Losartan 50 mg, Crestor 20 mg, Cordarone 200 mg and her clopidogrel was changed to Pradaxia. My questions are:
1. Does her newly discovered paroxysmal atrial fibrillation caused her stroke in the past few years?
2. Does her mild tricuspid regurgitation caused her atrial fibrillation?
3. Since my mother has mild tricuspid regurgitation, is it ok to use Pradaxia as anticoagulant?

kristine24 · Answer

Thanks! Her doctor told me that she has many infarcts in her brain and that preventing atrial fibrillation attacks and stroke is very important. I pray everyday to God to give my mother many more years so she could gain more experiences in this world. Pradaxa here in our country costs USD$1.3 per capsule. Her doctor is worried to give her Coumadin because of constant monitoring and risk of bleeding. My mother can still walk and do her activities of daily living except cooking and cleaning the house. Her ability to read is affected. At some point, i am still thankful to God that He gave us the chance to know the real cause of my mother's recurrent attacks. I just pray that he would take my mother's atrial fibrillation away and never come back for good. Is there anyone out there who has survived stroke/atrial fibrillation for years?

DeltaDawn23 · Answer

I hope she didn't have too much damage from the strokes. I had unknown Afib -- short runs -- for years and had a blot clot in my eye, which technically is considered a stroke. So I think it's very possible she had it and didn't know it. Lots of people don't feel it, don't find it out until it shows up on ekg. Sounds like you are doing a good job. Was Coumadin mentioned? It is the old standby blood thinner and is cheaper than Pradaxa, which was just approved in this country last year. It's been used in Europe for a couple of years, I think. Good luck to you both . . . you're doing a good thing for your Mom -- keeping you in my thoughts.

kristine24 · Answer

thanks. I'm currently giving her the best care I could give. At home, I give her an apple a day as well as oranges to boost her immune system. I've researched that apples can give anti inflammatory effects on the cardiovascular system and prevents platelet clumping .

itdood · Answer

Afib is a leading cause of stroke for sure, because blood can pool in the atria when this is happening and spawn clots, but if it just started how could it be a cause before the afib started?  Maybe she was having episodes of afib and it was just finally caught?  that's a possibility.  Now that she's being treated with the blood thinner (pradaxia) hopefully the TIAs stop.

SOmetimes severe valve regurgitation can cause afib.  Many people have mild regurge, so I'm thinking it's not a root cause of her afib.  

Question 3 should be addressed with her doctor.

All these questions are really good to ask of her doctor.