hello everyone I would really like your thoughts on the above.
I had an echocardiogram in December and a letter came through to say I had regurgitation and leaking valves in both mitral and triscupid (?spelling) and PHO or PFO hole in my heart between the right and left atrium (sorry don’t have the letter to hand at the moment)
Also the letter said I had diastolic dysfunction and all the above causing pulmonary hypertension
Although since Christmas I’ve had afib and tachycardia kicked in, now I feel worse snd am frightened that the afib and fast heart rate will make the hole snd bleeding worse????
Apparently the cardiologist isn’t going to phone me until 28th March and my GP said the cardiologist wants to start me on a new pill which has only just come out, but at least 2 of the definite side effects are UTIs and osteoporosis. I don’t want those on top of everything else I gather the pill is primarily for diabetes 2 which I don’t have, but apparently helps heart failure
I’m sorry this is so long but just wanted to know if anyone else has this hole in the heart. The cardiologist did say it may have been caused by an ablation I had in 2018???
All the best to everyone
Pat x
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I read your post with interest. I had a hole in my heart closed in my early 70's.They do it(mostly) under sedation.It is usually a simple job but you would need to clarify this with the cardio/surgeon doing the op.I also have very serious regurgitation of my tricuspid valve. had it for years and years. Unless they are operating for something else...usually with open heart surgery....they tend to leave it , but it does not get better. No treatment for me but if they want to operate on you they will want to fix clips to close the valves or perhaps replace the valve. It will depend on the state of the regurg. as to what they may want to do. I refused clips as my age was against me and the surgery is not necessarily a solution to the problem.It may not work well,I was told. If you have an enlarged heart which can be quite common they are not too keen to do much anyway. I think you are going to have to list the questions to which you want answers.I had the hole in my heart fixed as it had caused me to have an embolism and a TIA.But I had prob. had it all my life and spent a lot of time really living and travelling so it did not interfer with my life. Glad I did not know about it then!
The hole was the problem and caused the TIA and the embolism.Mine was a fairly simple fix. I went into hospital at 7.am and came out at round 9pm. No. It was not a big op. and was done under sedation via my groin. But these holes can be more complex than mine was so you will have find out specifically about yours.Felt great the next morning and very energetic.I was 72 when it was done. I thank my lucky stars I did not get a stroke or embolism earlier as it was thought in my case I had had the hole since birth......and had a baby at 41!Nobody said anything about a hole in my heart then.I got off quite lightly as it was a C section due to to non heart related issues.
thank you. Sounds like the way they do an angiogram, but obviously more delicate and serious? That doesn’t sound too bad does it. The only trouble these days is that get to a certain age it seems that the medics aren’t too bothered about us.
I had my ablation done at St George’s Tooting with prof behr, so the comment in the letter from St. Peter’s is quite surprising saying that the hole MIGHT have been caused through the ablation I had about 2018 as St. George’s is supposed to be a good hospital.
Now of course I’m worrying thst the Afib and tachycardia I keep having will make the hole worse…..! I’m not usually a worrier, (not even when I had brain tumour surgery which were very low odds on survival and other operations) but for some reason this time I am
I did not feel as though they thought I was too old for the op. They did a few tests to check for my suitability but It was not my suggestion to get it done. They did it quite quickly.No real aftercare needed .Took Warfarin and aspirin for a while and then Apixaban.,which I still take to prevent strokes. I only had one follow up hospital visit.
I’m on apixaban already together with bisoprolol and flecainide for my afib.
With hospitals so overcrowded at the moment goodness knows how long it would take for me to actually see someone so might just have to wait for the telephone call in March
Suppose could start again and go privately as a friend said they knew of a good heart consultant snd initial consultation would be about £160-£250.
I think you might need a specialist to do the closure of the hole in your heart. The man who did mine did a couple of procedures of which closing a hole in the heart was one of them.He did about five or six of us in one day! I do not think the people who do it are ' rare' and they work as a team .It is tracked on a computer while one of them does the job.
I was 72 when the hole was closed.It was done by Oliver Omerod and Dr Newton at the John Radcliffe Hospital Oxford.Not sure if either of them work privately.But you could telephone and find out if they are still working there by telephoning the hospital .The JR has quite a sizeable cardiac dept. and there may be others who do the same op.
Regurgitation of both the valves is normal to some extent so you need to see exactly what the letter says before you start worrying. Mild is mild and of no concern in most cases. The hole in the septum may well be a result of past ablation but from my experiences this usually closes in a day or two and in the case of my last ablation in 2019 they did an echocardiogram next day to check pressure etc
thank you for replying Bob. I had the ablation in 2018 and apart from an occasional check with a junior doctor I’ve never seen anyone to check that the ablation went ok. The afib and tachycardia was still a problem afterwards anyway.
I have had an echocardiogram about 10-12 years ago and nothing reported then regarding the hole, it was only this one in December that showed it up
Silly really as I’ve had loads of things wrong with me as well as brain tumour surgery, but this has really frightened me especially as I was daft enough to look it up on Google and saw that it can cause strokes and heart attacks
Thank you for replying back
Pat x
Ps…the letter said moderate regurgitation in the valves
My last echocardiogram reported mild Mitral and Tricuspid valve regurgitation, also small hole in septum. Cardiologist said most people have some small degree of regurgitation as they are getting older and of no real significance. Said small hole in septum of no significance either if not causing any problems and had probably had since birth, but depends on skills of scanning operator as to whether it is picked up or not when scanning done. I have had 1 previous scan (not picked up then) and no procedures/ operations on my heart. Hope that this reassures you to some extent but you can ask your GP for further explanation/reassurance.
Thank you so much. Yes the hole has never been picked up before with me either. I don't feel great and seem always tired, no energy and breathless
I did speak with my GP and he said wait until the cardiologist phones you at the end of March!!! He said maybe the pulmonary hypertension and breathlessness might be because of the hole. Not a lot of help really and when I asked if the afib and tachycardia which set in after Xmas would harm he didn’t really answer
I’ll try not to worry and carry on. Thank you for your encouragement
About 20% of the population have a PFO - I didn’t know I had one until I had an ablation so didn’t have to have hole punched through the septum but they did a bubble test whilst doing the ablation to see if it needed to be closed - it didn’t. I think that is the least thing to become anxious about.
My husband has lived with with tricuspid valve regurgitation since he had Diptheria - in 1940 aged 6 - do the maths. With age he now has 3 valves that are less than fully functional but he still has a good QOL.
As we age we have to accept that things don’t work as well as they used however you have had a lot to cope with so I think it is natural to have some health anxiety - but don’t overthink it. If your cardiologist doesn’t want to see you until end of March - that’s good news as whatever state the NHS is in at the moment - they are still triaging so if there was something of concern I think you would be seen very much quicker.
thank you dreamer. Very encouraging. I think I’m going through panic mode as there seems to be one thing after another in our lives at the moment, plus my hubby has been diagnosed with mild dementia and I have to do everything and think for two of us. I’ve not long got over brain tumour surgery as well
Then reading on this forum I saw a message from someone about flecainide and checks snd should only be taken if heart structurally sound. After what the cardiologist wrote in his letter with all the things wrong I’m now having a little worry about that. Also that since Xmas afib and tachycardia isn’t having a break and wondered if that would aggravate everything
Sorry to go on but can’t really talk to hubby as bless him he forgets, the family live so far away snd I wouldn’t want to worry them anyway snd friends although lovely have their own problems now we are all older
We are here to support - such a lot to cope with & I can resonate with hubby - ditto but I haven’t recently had brain surgery. Do hope you have some practical support - that’s a heavy load you carry. 😘
I’m 74. Having OHS in 3 days time in St Thomas’s. I’m having new mitral valve and repair to Atrium valve plus single bypass.
I went into permanent Afib in 2019. Have had various cardioversions, ablations, one of which I had a TIA during the procedure!
Had a pacemaker inserted 2021.
I wouldn’t worry too much about the time period from December till seeing your cardiologist in March. My appointment was beginning of December and as I said I’m in in a few days time so I think if you were needed to be done urgently they would have got u in. Good luck.
Hello, I don’t have a hole in my heart but do have an atrial septal aneurysm. My most recent ECHO showed 3 leaky valves with new pulmonary hypertension of 40. The tricuspid and bicuspid valves are mild to moderate regurgitation and the pulmonic valve is mild regurgitation. Both atrium are enlarged. Guess that has caused the pulmonary hypertension. I saw my results online but no one has called me from the office yet. I think leaky valves may be somewhat common. Hang in there…you are not alone!! March is pretty close. 👍
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mitral valve regurgitation and AF 
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Cost of ablation for AFIB left atrium? Already had right atrium for aflutter and SVT. 
