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Ah, but correlation does not mean causation.

I had an aortic valve replacement in 2005 and no dilated ascending aorta was noted at the time. I couldn't be happier with my mechanical valve. Jump ahead to a new cardiologist 4 years ago who wondered why this had not been checked recently since the origin of my valve problem wasn't known, and...

Hi! I was on the 'wait and monitor' routine for eight years with severe regurgitation (bicuspid with a poorly formed 3rd leaflet) valve. This is cause I was young (late 20's) and was otherwise asymptomatic. The main concern was to monitor the left ventricle size and have the surgery before it...

I always thought that baby aspirin on top of warfarin was overkill and unnecessary. I understand they work by different mechanisms but warfarin strikes me as the 'big guns' anticoagulant so why play around with a tiny dose of a drug where there's contradictory data? So I took the aspirin for a...

Hey CC Team, I'm traveling to Cleveland for a pre-surgery workup for aortic aneurism (sans angiogram) and my experience is the same with procedures. I sent my most recent CT scan and echo to Dr S and he recommended surgery but I want to have their fancy CT with contrast and gating done so I can...

Hi! I had the same hospital experience after my AVR - my INR would just not budge. I can't recall if they did increase the Coumadin dose, I think the approach is generally very cautious as to not overshoot the target INR. I ended up going home on Lovenox (sp?) since I started making a fuss I...

I felt TONS better after AVR/mechanical ATS valve replacement of a severely leaky valve. I was very active before the replacement but had started being out of breath walking up stairs and didn't realize how the leaky valve had been slowly degrading my energy and endurance until it was replaced...

I have to thank the group for the Cleveland Clinic recommendations. I didn't get a response from the web form so I called there and a really helpful nurse answered my questions. I just uploaded my CT scans and Dr. Lars Svensson is going to take a look for a 2nd opinion. My team at Rush is a bit...

I decided to reach out to Cleveland Clinic to get their expert opinion, I appreciate everyone's comments and encouragement. I've read all the guidelines and background info on bicuspid valves and aneurisms yada yada but in real life there are guidelines then there is your specific situation and...

When I was told my aortic valve needed to be replaced (severe regurgitation) I was convinced I would come out of the surgery a vegetable and was completely against having the surgery. I went on a 'watch, monitor, and wait' routine and was followed with echos. Several years later when I developed...

All clinical studies are listed in clinicaltrials.gov so nothing is kept in the dark. The study was to show 'noninferiority' which in FDA speak is equivalence. For heart valves, working means preventing clotting without causing internal bleeding but there has been very limited motivation to run...

My ATS valve is awesome. That's what matters to me :). The FDA did a comparator study? Usually they approve a drug or device but make no statements on superiority. Valve choice is a personal matter.

Thanks for the opinions! Forgot to mention a surgeon is following me, and the guidelines and usual thresholds for repair have been explained. They’re watching to see if it expands and are leaving it be in the meantime. There was some mention of likely scar tissue from avr surgery as the reason...

Hi! When my aortic valve was replaced (mech valve - all is well) the surgeon described it as 'bicuspid with a poorly formed 3rd leaflet'. I have a new cardiologist recently since my original retired, the new doctor started asking questions about whether it was a BAV (it's not clear) and if I was...

Any Apple watch fans out there? I am considering getting an Apple Watch 5 since I like to go for walks (3-4 mi) and bike rides, and also like Yoga. I am interested in the heart rate and EKG features of the Apple watch, also the emergency call ability with the Apple watch + cellular. Especially...

I switched from brand name to generic maybe 10 years ago and have not had a problem. Any slight differences would get picked up when I take my INR and adjusted - but my INR rarely is out of range. I enjoy saving lots of money on the generic!

Like the other comments, my left ventricle prior to AVR surgery was enlarged at 72 mm, after 6 mos was down to 5.3. All has been well since then, almost 10 yrs ago. I had severe regurgitation with a malformed valve (they think it was a bicuspid with poorly formed 3rd valve) that didn't close.

I have an ATS valve, leaflets are solid pyrolytic carbon with a thin titanium band. So no strongly magnetic material, and MRI safe. I had 1 MRI of my knee and one heart MRI to look for an aortic aneurism (unfortunately found). I have to say laying on my back still and holding my breath...

Lol I once told an echo tech during my test my mech ATS valve was NOT leaking when they said something - it was a newer tech and they spent an extra 20 min trying to figure out what they were seeing. I had my cardiologist appt right after that and told him what happened and boy did he laugh...