I had mitral valve repair several years ago. I recently had a TEE for an unrelated reason and was told that I have a PFO that was likely caused by the surgery ...Read more
I had mitral valve repair several years ago. I recently had a TEE for an unrelated reason and was told that I have a PFO that was likely caused by the surgery (I did not have this prior to surgery). Has this happened to anyone else?
Wanda Mroz Yes! me! I had the same surgery. It’ll be 10 years in Aug. My PFO showed up on an Echo several ... Read more
Wanda Mroz Yes! me! I had the same surgery. It’ll be 10 years in Aug. My PFO showed up on an Echo several years after surgery. My cardiologist had me scheduled for a TEE to check further. I also met with my surgeon who checked the TEE frame by frame. During the surgery they close off the small appendage of the heart that is just an extra piece of tissue with no purpose. When the tissue heals it shrinks and sometimes causes the stitches to pull and cause a small tear that will still allow blood flow to and from the appendage. I was told my PFO is very small with little leakage. If it doesn’t get larger there’s no need to intervene but if it doesn’t it can be fixed by catheter. So far so good. Although I’m not happy that this happened to you, I’m glad to hear someone shares my problem. My Drs thoroughly checked it because as in your case there was no PFO prior to surgery. I hope that helps somewhat.
You can read about it here. I do suffer from A-fib and A-flutter so unfortunately the PFO closure fail forces me to still take blood thinners.
Ellen G Thanks, Wanda. I’m very worried. I called the hospital that did my surgery and spoke with a nurse. ... Read more
Ellen G Thanks, Wanda. I’m very worried. I called the hospital that did my surgery and spoke with a nurse. She was going to send a message to the surgical team, but I have not heard back from her yet. I have read about the closure procedure, but there are risks and it could erode, which is a very serious complication. I like your idea of having a surgeon review the TEE. I also don’t know how large it is; only that is less than a centimeter. Maybe I will have a disc sent to my surgeon.
Wanda Mroz I don’t blame you…my cardiologist was surprised when that showed up because it never had before a ... Read more
Wanda Mroz I don’t blame you…my cardiologist was surprised when that showed up because it never had before and was pretty insistent on further checking. I was scared. Ultimately she suggested that I see the surgeon. I was glad I did because I got peace of mind after he went thru my TEE pointing out the issues. I am still on blood thinners due to the tiny amount of blood that still flows into the appendage. The procedure does not have a 100% success rate as mine and yours didn’t but is worth having. I’m fortunate that my cardiologist and my surgeon are all in the same health system so it’s easy for me to be able to see my surgeon for an opinion. Good luck… keep advocating for yourself and I’d be curious to know what the end result is. 🙏🏻💕
I am from: West Palm Beach
You can read about it here. I do suffer from A-fib and A-flutter so unfortunately the PFO closure fail forces me to still take blood thinners.
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/17167-left-atrial-appendage--closure