I had mitral valve replacement 18 months ago and have had transient ocular and cognitive symptoms since soon after my surgery (double vision, loss of parts ...Read more
I had mitral valve replacement 18 months ago and have had transient ocular and cognitive symptoms since soon after my surgery (double vision, loss of parts of my visual field, memory gaps). I've found some anecdotal stories online with similar experiences and came across one research article that talked about Pump Head Syndrome which seemed to fit my symptoms. My surgeon doesn't believe in Pump Head Syndrome, but the neurologist I was referred to said he definitely thought my symptoms could be related to the heart surgery. I know that some difficulty with memory and recall is normal after surgery, but this clears up fairly quickly. Pump Head Syndrome can persist for months or years. Has anyone else had this experience?!
Nancy D I am 8 months post mitral valve replacement. I have had ocular symptoms since day 1 post surgery. T ... Read more
Nancy D I am 8 months post mitral valve replacement. I have had ocular symptoms since day 1 post surgery. They are much less frequent now, but still apparent when- 1. my B/P is lower than 95 on the top number and 2) at the end of the day or if I am particularly tired.
Low B/P has been a big part of my slower than normal recovery. I am managing it with increasing water consumption daily and an increase in salt intake- both with the blessing of my cardiologist.
As far as Pump Head/Cardiac brain- I am 58 years old and names and nouns are the first to go I have decided and that was prior to surgery. Is it more pronounced- yes, but I am increasingly able to recall the word I was missing in a relatively short span of time. I don't seem to have memory gaps, except the immediate post op day, but I attribute that to anesthesia and the pain meds. The missing words are somewhat annoying, but the more I stress about it the harder it seems for the word to come to me. So, I try to skip past it and go on. I haven't read where the syndrome persists for years..... I hope I am past the worst of all of it. Considering they say it takes a full year to really be 'recovered' I am still happy with where I am. Hoping your recovery still improves for you!!
Barry Van Gemert The vast majority of the people that go on a heart-lung machine "pump" are having bypass surgery for ... Read more
Barry Van Gemert The vast majority of the people that go on a heart-lung machine "pump" are having bypass surgery for CHD. If the arteries in the heart are clogged, then in all likelihood the rest of your body is similarly affected including arteries supplying blood to the brain. So cognitive decline noted in patients that have had bypass surgery is believed to be due to the brain getting less than 100% of the oxygen needed because of bad arteries, not because they were on the pump for a couple of hours. People that had valve surgery, without a bypass, should not be experiencing cognitive issues related to their surgery.
Suzanne Hunter Yes had lots of visual issues after aortic valve replacement. Everyone I spoke too dismissed idea tha ... Read more
Suzanne Hunter Yes had lots of visual issues after aortic valve replacement. Everyone I spoke too dismissed idea that problems had come from heart surgery because I had started to ocular migraines with a dark curtain coming over one eye just a few days before surgery they said it wasn't related. However I had never had anything like this and it is unnerving. Flashes of lights blurry vision eyes feeling heavy and hard to fully open. Went back into hosp 2 months after op and they said possible TIAs but I had no other symptoms so a real mystery. I am now 9 months post op and it has lessened somewhat not every day perhaps once a month now. It is hard when the experts say no this is not caused by heart op but you know yourself that something is odd or weird about the things happening to you. Good luck KIT suzanne
Nancy D Suzanne, I agree completely! I did have a history of migraines for years, and got auras with them. ... Read more
Nancy D Suzanne, I agree completely! I did have a history of migraines for years, and got auras with them. I woke up from surgery with an aura, no headache and had multiple visual auras for several days post op with no headache. I also had and have the flashes of light, some blurred vision and dark grey spots in my field of vision. It has decreased with each passing week. I did have a complete eye exam with my opthamologist and he doesn't believe it is related either, but you can't convince me otherwise. Migraines are vascular headaches, and I assume it is the body adjusting to more blood circulating and less being regurgitated back into the lungs.....glad it is much better now though.
I'm new to this site, although I've looked at information prior to and after my mitral valve replacement in Oct. 2013. I have a question about a problem that ...Read more
I'm new to this site, although I've looked at information prior to and after my mitral valve replacement in Oct. 2013. I have a question about a problem that I haven't seen specifically referenced here or in my online research. Following my surgery, I noticed a small bump that would appear intermittently above one of the smaller incision sites (where the monitor wires and heart/lung machine is hooked up during surgery). When I asked my surgeon about it he admitted that when they went to remove wires after surgery one of them couldn't be easily disengaged on the distal end so they cut it and left it floating inside (it could be seen on follow-up xrays that were done, but was never mentioned to me). Sometimes it pokes me and at times I can also feel some discomfort/aching internally. Has this happened to anyone else?
I am from: Springfield, Massachusetts
Low B/P has been a big part of my slower than normal recovery. I am managing it with increasing water consumption daily and an increase in salt intake- both with the blessing of my cardiologist.
As far as Pump Head/Cardiac brain- I am 58 years old and names and nouns are the first to go I have decided and that was prior to surgery. Is it more pronounced- yes, but I am increasingly able to recall the word I was missing in a relatively short span of time. I don't seem to have memory gaps, except the immediate post op day, but I attribute that to anesthesia and the pain meds. The missing words are somewhat annoying, but the more I stress about it the harder it seems for the word to come to me. So, I try to skip past it and go on. I haven't read where the syndrome persists for years..... I hope I am past the worst of all of it. Considering they say it takes a full year to really be 'recovered' I am still happy with where I am. Hoping your recovery still improves for you!!