{"id":8879,"date":"2012-07-14T09:44:15","date_gmt":"2012-07-14T14:44:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/?p=8879"},"modified":"2018-08-29T17:53:16","modified_gmt":"2018-08-29T22:53:16","slug":"echocardiogram-bicuspid-valve-aortic-genetics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/2012\/07\/14\/echocardiogram-bicuspid-valve-aortic-genetics\/","title":{"rendered":"“Did Ethan Have An Echocardiogram To Check For Bicuspid Aortic Valve?” Asks Cindy"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a follow-up to Wednesday’s post<\/a> about Northwestern’s Bicuspid Aortic Valve Program, I received an interesting note from Cindy. She writes, “I was born with a bicuspid aortic valve and have already had valve replacement surgery. My question is, ‘Do my children need to be worried about inheriting this? Have you had Ethan checked?'”<\/p>\n

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\"Photo
\nEthan, My Son<\/p>\n

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Following my video interview with Dr. Patrick McCarthy (see below), Robyn and I were motivated to have Ethan, my 3-year old son, checked for all forms of congenital valve defects. As you might imagine, Ethan was not a fan of having an echocardiogram. However, after promising Ethan a new Buzz Lightyear toy, he settled down and let the technician successfully perform the 25-minute test.<\/p>\n

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The good news… After the exam, we learned that there are no signs of any structural defects in Ethan’s heart. If you are curious, there is a genetic consideration specific to bicuspid aortic valve disease<\/a>. To learn more, I spoke with Dr. McCarthy<\/a> about this topic.<\/p>\n

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