Thoughts on what causes valve damage??

Shop deals on ebay
Advertise with us
shop deals on amazon
Valve Replacement Forums

Help Support Valve Replacement Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
C

Conifer Kim

Fellow Heartists,

I just learned that I have damage to all 4 valves - enough to replace 1 and repair one this coming Monday - and myxomatous tissue and overall enlargement - and that it was not due to rheumatic fever as I have been told all my life when doctors heard my murmur (now whoop). So I would really like to know what on earth caused this damage so I can steer clear of doing it again!

I am active, take very good care of my 52-yr-young self, and hope you all might have some ideas of what the culprit might be. Can too much work/working out harm us?

Also, any advice for a newbie 6 days away from AVR!

Thanks and be swell.
 
Did you ask the doctors what could have caused this? There are so many reasons for valve problems, from congenital abnormalities to disease and even some of those banned diet drugs that were popular several years ago.

How did they determine that it wasn't from rheumatic fever? If they determined that, they must have a good idea what the problem is.

You need to get this information from them.
 
Welcome aboard! Sometimes a bad bacterial infection can damage a valve; but the four:confused:

As Nancy said, your doctors should know why and please let us know. I lam curious what others think.

Good luck:)
 
this is the question i asked my cardio and doctor about my mitral valve , the answer was i dont know ,i asked specifically about weights and exercise his answer to that was you could of been here 10 years ago if you hadnt looked after yourself
i have never smoked or taken drugs even avoid medicines where possible,i would like to have an idea what caused it to go severe,there seems to be 3 knowns i know of thats heart attack endocarditis and rheumatic fever other than that you get a dont know but you need surgery!
 
What I learned from exploring this issue was that heart valves are very safe; there's not much you can do to hurt them, unless you're Arnold, or take those certain diet drugs. Other than rheumatic fever, the usual cause is congenital, and the prevention is not to be born, not an option for most of us. Relax, it's not your fault.
 
I have no answer for you, but I'm glad you found this site before surgery and I put you on the calendar to make it "official"" Welcome!
 
Welcome...you sure did find us just in time...

Myxomatous Tissue could be because of a Connective Tissue Disorder...myxomatous basically means the tissue has gotten spongy soft and gel-like in texture...not an ideal situation in the heart...generally they remove it and replace it....its also benign so dont go thinking its cancerous 'cos its not.

You were born with this, its in your genes...there is nothing to be done to avoid it other than chose parents who dont carry the gene and its a little late for that.

My Aorta tissue sample that went to pathology after my own surgery came back as positive for myxomatous tissue. Cardios can also see the changes that indicate this condition with the scans they do. I have/had a Bicuspid Aortic Valve which is a connective tissue disorder.
 
Good luck and Godspeed on Monday!

I had RF, but in researching it, I found out a lot about myxomatous degeneration. Did they decide it wasn't RF because of the myxomatous tissue and because all 4 valves have damage? That can be associated with Marfan's. Are you tall and lanky? I'm guessing it's your mitral valve that's the worst because that seems to be the one most affected by myxomatous degeneration (MVP), although BAV also is sometimes combined with myxomatous tissue.

Anyway, it doesn't really matter what causes it. What matters is that it can be fixed.
 
no one knows

no one knows

.
in my case, gp, surgeon and cardiologist said that they did not know what caused my mitral valve prolapse; the best explaination i got was that it was like knicker (underpants) elastic, sometimes it lasts for years, sometimes the elastic is worn out in a few months

the other consistent comment was "do not worry about why, it has happened and we have to fix it"
 
Thanks for your thoughts on causes of damage

Thanks for your thoughts on causes of damage

Dear All,

Thanks so much for sharing your ideas about what caused the damage to my 4 valves. Turns out, when the Doc replaced the aortic, the other 3 "perked right up" he says. So maybe the tests didn't show the true state of affairs. Anyway, the hosptial Doc said it was congenital and wasn't noticed because it wasn't noticeable yet. Guess I didn't wear it out after all!

Got through the AVR (bovine) on 1/26 just fine and other than needing 4 pts of blood and spending a few extra days while they waited for a bubble to disappear from my lung, I am in great shape. Learning to take it easy - that's the hardest part. Showering and dressing 'bout wiped me out 1st week out of the hospital. Much better now though. How they do all that work through a 4 1/2 inch incision I baffles me!

Thanks for all your support!
Kim
 
What good news. So happy you are safely home and into your recovery. Follow doc's orders.... they really do know best. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top