stenosis after Ross procedure

[surfsparky]

Hi,
just discovered this site through a mate.
I am a 32 year old male who had a Ross Procedure 6 months ago. Last echo showed that I had stenosis (moderate collapse) of the pulmonary donor valve. Anyone experience this?
Thanks,
Chris

 

[medtronic of borg]

Hi

Hi

Welcome,
I am a bit no one has writen by now. There is a small percentage of replacements that fail. You may want to consider another Dr. (surg.).

Med

 

[bvdr]

Hi and welcome to this site. I'm sorry you are having trouble with stenosis following the Ross procedure.

How are you feeling? Do they expect this to be permament or can it somehow uncollapse? What information are they giving you?

 

[sylviayasgur]

hi chris!
i am so sorry to hear about your stenotic valve post ross procedure.
unfortunately, i've read several posts where rosses do not hold up. i'm not sure why this sometimes occurs, but i'm sure there will be other members who will chime in any day now, who have been in similar boats.
i agree though, i would seek another opinion and just check it out and hear another angle.
did they do a cath? echo? tee?
at 6 months post surgery, they did an echo on joey (my husband) and found a severe leak. after following up with a tee, they discovered that it was not a severe leak at all, but two trivial leaks exiting inopposing directions, creating the illusion of a huge leak. so, maybe further tests are in order?
please let us know how things go. sorry i couldn't help more.
be well, sylvia

 

[surfsparky]

Thanks for your advice and encouragement- this is such a great website and I wish that I had discovered it sooner! At my 6 month check up with my cariologist post surgery, I found out that my latest echo showed that I had moderate stenosis on the homograft pulmonary valve. I was pretty disapppointed at the time since it had only been 6 months since the Ross procedure and therefore I wasn't expecting this for at least another 10-15 years. I had a feeling that something was up as my heart "felt different", and I was starting to feel a little breathless again. I will have another echo at the end of this month to see if the stenosis has developed further. At this stage I have not resarched what my options are if further surgery is needed - I'm just hoping that it won't get to that point yet. The cardiologist said that if the stenosis remains the same, then I won't need surgery yet. But he seemed to suggest that it is likely for the stenosis to progress further as it has already developed from 'mild' to 'moderate'. At this point, after reading all the other forums, I'm getting the idea that might not be the ideal option to go for another homograft valve as this will be already my 2nd operation. Any thoughts?
Anyway, thanks again for your input - I really appreciate it.
Chris

 

[bvdr]

Hi Chris,

I know how very disappointed you must feel. I am sure it isn't even about the possibility of having another surgery so soon but that you arn't feeling as well as you had hoped.

If you have another surgery I would probably consider a mechanical valve as it would reduce that possibility of a third surgery.

Remember too that echo readings are very subject to the tech who does the exam and also the person who interprets it. At six months you may not have healed all the way and perhaps you will still improve. I hope so.

I think you should get that next echo and after getting the results and seeing how you are feeling, get a second opinion.

Please let us know how the next echo turns out, OK?