Recent content by Northernlights

It's interesting reading these varied recommendations. Here in the UK the DVLA ( in charge of driving licences) forbids driving for 4 weeks after any cardiac surgery, and you can restart only when your doctor says it's safe. Drivers with a bus or truck licence have to inform the DVLA: they...

Wishing you all the best Pellicle for clear scans. That is such a scary graph - thank goodness yours was a local sternal infection and not endocarditis, dreadful though it has been for you, and that they were able to remove the infected goretex. I appreciate what an awful experience this has...

Dear Nupur Actually your ejection fraction is not OK at 60%. 60% is the point for a Class I recommendation for surgery. As usual I am going to quote the 2017 guidelines ( thank you Zoltania for posting the link) I do recommend people read the guidelines for their particular valve problem...

I agree these threads can be daunting, Alchemist, and can put people off contributing. Myself I feel: more heat, less light - I don't care for shouting. However this thread has not been bad compared with some others on the forum! Atomlo made his choice for the Ross last year, and since...

Dear Palaeowoman The 2012 ESC guidelines which preceded the 2017 update are still on the web. They say: 'Management of asymptomatic severe AS remains a matter of controversy. Recent studies do not provide convincing data to support the general recommendation of early AVR, even in patients...

While I agree that Americans tend to be more litigious, and obviously following the guidelines can be used by doctors as a defence, nevertheless it is actually a very good defence since the primary purpose of guidelines is to disseminate knowledge and best practice, and thus protect the patient...

Mom2angel I agree you need a second opinion, but I suggest rather than another cardiologist you ask your cardiologist to refer you for a surgical consult with the Cleveland Clinic ( you could also use their remote consult service). Since the question is surgical risk versus waiting it makes...

Interestingly the ACC/AHA guidelines on valve disease and replacement were updated this year: 'The choice of type of prosthetic heart valve should be a shared decision- making process that accounts for the patient’s values and preferences and includes discussion of the indications for and risks...

Many congratulations Dick - an amazing achievement! Best wishes for many more anniversaries.

A problem about talking about timing of operation comes from the fact that most people here have had aortic stenosis, when the timing is based on the gradient through the narrowed valve and normally waits for the development of symptoms, though there is a trend now to slightly earlier...

I'm not sure there is so much of a dichotomy between the 'intellectual' and the 'emotional' choice. We are all both intellectual and emotional beings and we make our choices through a mixture of the two. All articles contain a certain amount of bias, whether through funding ( easy to check , as...

Dear Shirley have you looked on Adam pick's forum? He has info both on the Percutaneous valve and reoperations. One of the members has just had a 4 th op at Cleveland clinic with Dr Roselli. I do think with reoperations and your very complex case a second opinion at Cleveland or mayo would be...

Very pleased to hear this, and that you were happy with the Brompton. I hope things stay stable.

Dear Jimmy I don't normally post here, but I thought it worth pointing out that while bioprosthetic valve calcification happens faster in younger patients, if you read the actual academic literature on prosthetic valve calcification you will see it is due to their stronger inflammatory...

Dear Paleowoman, I gave up posting on this forum as I prefer a moderated forum, but I have looked in from time to time and see it is moderated now ( of course there was never any problem with your posts , paleowoman!) and I felt I really had to respond to your post, partly to say how sorry I am...