As you may know, many patients and caregivers stress the importance of getting a second opinion prior to surgery. Without a doubt, second opinions are a critical step for validating or challenging a primary diagnosis of valvular diseases including mitral regurgitation and aortic stenosis.<\/p>\n
Today, I received an email from Ken that stressed a very interesting element of his own, second opinion. As you can read below, Ken’s surgeon performed some additional tests which led Ken to question whether-or-not echocardiograms are the most effective test for detecting valvular disease. Here is what Ken writes:<\/p>\n
Dear Adam,<\/p>\n
I almost was going under the knife for aortic valve replacement (AVR)<\/a> until my doctor friend found an inconsistency in the cardiologist’s report. The surgeon then requested a CAT Angiogram<\/a>.<\/p>\n Apparently, for athletic patients, echocardiogram readings are not that great. Needless to say, the CAT showed a SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE in my aortic root dilation.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n According to this new test… SURGERY IS NOT NEEDED AT THIS TIME!!! Please suggest to your readers that a CAT or MRI might offer additional information for proper diagnosis.<\/p>\n At times, as in my case, echocardiograms may not be the most reliable test for valve disease diagnosis.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/Images\/echocardiogram-image.gif\")
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