Mitral valve replacement for 84 ear old womane

[Guest]

Need info, is it a wise decision to have the surgery. What type of replacement is good?

 

[dick0236]

Depends on the physical and mental health of the person and the support level they will have post surgery. It is a difficult surgery for the elderly. If you do a search on this forum you will find a number of stories of people that age having surgery. Generally the outcomes seem not to be that good. Both the success of surgery and the quality of post-operative life need to be considered.

I would think that some type of tissue valve would be the valve of choice.

 

[honeybunny]

I agree with dick0236 regarding the patient's physical and mental condition.

Couple of questions: How does she feel about it and what is her life expectancy without the surgery? Mine was about a year when I was diagnosed with severe aortic stenosis.

If it were my mom I would support her decision either way.

 

[almost_hectic]

This sounds like just the type of situation that TAVR is intended for, and with that likelihood would mean a tissue valve and no need for Coumadin. Very easy recovery from what I understand

 

[Midpack]

This sounds like just the type of situation that TAVR is intended for, and with that likelihood would mean a tissue valve and no need for Coumadin. Very easy recovery from what I understand

But TAVR is for aortic valve, and she needs to have her mitral valve replaced. As far as i know, there is not yet any approved (that is, not in experimental phase) mitral valve replacement procedure not requiring OHS.

 

[almost_hectic]

But TAVR is for aortic valve, and she needs to have her mitral valve replaced. As far as i know, there is not yet any approved (that is, not in experimental phase) mitral valve replacement procedure not requiring OHS.

Oh , hadn't realized that

 

[dornole]

The first experimental TMVR (replaces the valve through blood vessels) was just done in the US this year. So she'd definitely be a very early adopter. Was done in Minnesota at Minneapolis Heart Institute where I go for care. If she has a very short life span or quality of life without surgery, and if she is unlikely to survive an open-heart surgery, she maybe could be a candidate for that experimental procedures but I'm guessing very few surgeons would try it. At her age a tissue valve via open heart surgery would be most likely - or just deciding to live with it.

IF she happens to have mitral stenosis (vs regurgitation) there IS a well-researched procedure similar to an angioplasty that uses a balloon to open a restricted mitral valve. That's what I had and I've gotten 12 years out of it so far. Just a couple days in the hospital and very little recovery. But I expect they would have mentioned that if it were a possibility for her. You have to have the right problem for that to be applicable.

Sorry she's going through this, hope the comments provide some help.