Admission to Bart's 31 Oct surgery following day. Went in expecting 3xcabg plus an aortic valve replacement.
Met surgeon on evening of admission and he said one of the bypasses wasn't worth doing as although it was a total blockage it was very near to the bottom of the artery and there would be little to be gained bypassing the blockage.
So surgery 1st Nov., 2 days ICU and back to ward. Then a bombshell from the surgeon, they had done 2xcabg and an Aortic valve REPAIR!!!!???
Never previously mentioned as a possibility in fact never even heard of such a thing.
Not a single reference on this site, has anyone had this done or know anything about it?
6 days post op discharged home and doing well, 6 week follow up booked, expect a grilling Mr cardiologist.
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pibrom
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Hmm, that must have been a strange discovery after the fact, very disconcerting. Did you misunderstand what they had been planning to do all along, or did they change their plan mid procedure? Hopefully your cardiologist grilling yields some answers! Good to hear you are recovering well either way.
I know there are a few people on this forum who have had valve repairs rather than replacements, but I can't think who they are off the top of my head. Sure one of them will reply to this post soon enough. All the best x
Not sure if the same applies to aortic and mitral valves but I went into surgery expecting either a replacement mitral valve or a repair depending upon what was seen when they opened me up. I had a repair and was told that's preferable to a replacement as I won't need to take warfarin for life and in the future either a repair or new valve could need re operating on for any number of reasons I guess. So the surgeon made a choice based on your body and what was appropriate and you have the bonus of not needing to remember to take your warfarin tablets every night at 6pm!!
I had a mitral valve repair in 2007, I was very happy about this as it was still my own valve and therefore no need for lifelong warfarin.
I am now on a 5 month waiting list for mitral valve replacement as my repair has failed but if given the choice I would take a chance with another repair rather than having an artificial valve.
Your surgeon will have made the decision based on what he saw during the op and I would take it as a positive that he didn't think a replacement valve was necessary.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about having a repair, it was just the surprise of having something done that had definitely never been mentioned at any stage. I can only assume the decision was made in the theatre.
According to an American site repairs are 94% @ 10 years which sounds good to me.
A few words of praise for Bart's, fantastic building, state of the art equipment, and superb staff. Even the food was quite good once I got my appetite back.
I can understand your concern. It's a worrying time having such a big op and if you're anything like me want to know everything that's been done to your body. I would have been far happier if I could've done the op myself! I do have some doubt about the repair and wonder if I could need a replacement in the future. But it's out of my hands like a lot of things in life.
Pleased that you liked your hospital. I won't mention mine in name but it was rough and ready to say the least and I was quite stunned at the standards and care in fact it left me slightly traumatised. It was dirty, poorly staffed, food really was inedible, I never met my surgeon in hospital apart from the initial meeting 2 months before the op!
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