re: Anyone Familar With This Heart Defect?

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Anyway, anyone else have any insight or experience they can give me here?

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The tissue in your valve is 'floppy.' They'll watch it over time, and it will probably never affect you. If it becomes so floppy that blood backs up through it, they will worry about it then (not necessarily going to eventually occur).

I was diagnosed with this at 16. Never stopped me from doing anything. I did cut back in caffeine intake bc that can cause some "attacks" which just felt like a tightness in my chest and then a small "pop" feeling. It didn't hurt, though.

The only thing that changed is that I now take antibiotics before having my teeth cleaned.

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Does it cause blood to go back the wrong way in the heart?

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No. That is mitral regurgitation. The blood back flow through the valve sets it apart from prolapse. Prolapse can be an incidental finding. Regurge is always pathological.

Someone asked the same question the other day and this is the response I gave them.


I had my mitral valve replaced in November of 2005, because of Mitral Valve prolapse.

Discovered three years earlier in my annual physical by my GP as a heart murmur. Went to Cardiologist who followed me for three years saying that I would know when it needed to be done, but that it was getting worse every six months - verified with echo-cardiograms measuring leakage (called regurgitation) during the valve closed part of heart beat. When I had the procedure done I was at 80% regurgitation. I absolutely knew it was time. I could walk 50 yards and I'd have to stop somewhere in the middle to rest (out of breath).

They said I probably had some sort of infection that caused the top of the Mitral valve to deteriorate. Made it scalloped in shape causing it to not seal and then cause other problems with the shape of the valve, which made it worse still.

I had the surgery done on my birthday - in Birmingham at Brookwood (thoracic surgeon) Dr. Wade Lamberth - Maybe the best man I have ever known.

Drove from Meridian to Birmingham and went in hospital at 4:00 am that morning. Hospital staff thought it was a hoot that it was my birthday. Surgery started about 8:00 am. They had trouble waking me up after the surgery (2-3 hours) and I knew nothing that day. Woke up the next day hurting like crazy and feeling better (strength wise). Went home (Birmingham to Meridian, with wife driving, past Tuscaloosa during end of and Alabama game traffic) five days later and back at work (desk job) a week later.

I had a St. Jude Carbon fiber valve because Lamberth said I was too young for a pig valve. I take warfarin/coumadin to keep the valve from forming clots which will eventually break free and kill you. The drug makes me bruise, but otherwise no side effects - maybe a little tiredness when I push multiple 50 hour weeks at work.

I take a beta blocker (Toprol XL) to slow my heart down and decrease blood Pressure. I have the best blood pressure money can buy (105/85).

The valve works great. When it is really quiet I can hear it click each time it closes. Usually they ask me that question (can you hear it click) and when I say yes, they say "That is good".

I can answer whatever questions you may have and probably could figure out how we could talk if you will post some sort of e-mail address here.

Edited to add: I'm sure you know it is Major-Major surgery. I wouldn't just go to ,y local hospital and let anyone do it. I would find someone I really trust (doctor wise) and get recommendations before letting someone cut my heart open and replace an internal valve.

Good luck man - hope things work out for you.

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so you had the same feeling im having?

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Nope - never felt anything at all before the day when my doctor looked strangely at me and said, "When was the last time you had your heart murmur looked at?" I said "I don't have a heart murmur." and he said "Oh yes you do."

The absolute truth - at my annual physical one year earlier he heard nothing. We are good friends and he later told me it scared him to death, because he had never heard it (from me) before and he immediately wondered how he had missed it because it was very strong.

Three years later, after four or five echocardiograms a heart cath and a bunch of other tests, I had grown so tired (because I had 80% regurgitation by then) that I knew it was time to have the valve replaced.

When my GP initially discovered the murmur, he said it might never get any worse. The trouble was - for me - it did get worse. Every six months it was worse. The echocardiogram allows them to see and measure the regurgitation and every time they did one, it had grown worse. For the first 50 something years of my life, I had no murmur at all.

By the way, your mitral valve has two leaves like the Miter hat a Catholic bishop wears. The Aortic valve has three leaves. When you have severe prolapse and it is leaking like a sieve, that matters little at all.

Good luck. Hopefully it won't get worse.

I take Toprol XL.

Gives me the best blood pressure money can buy. Nice slow heart beat, too.

Is metoprolol one? I took it for a couple weeks & loved it but the dr told me to stop taking it

How does it make you feel like crap? I wish I could figure out how to be put back on it

Yea my wife has had it all her life. They discovered she had it when she was 4 years old. No big deal just takes her meds (toporal, I think) and she feels fine. Sometime she will feel it but she will just go to dr and they tweak her meds.

My mom was diagnosed with that 25 years ago. Something about a valve not closing qiite right. She's still healty and kicking.