HelloI'm just wondering if any folks on here have/have had a severe valve regurgitation (mine is aortic but any of the 4 will do) and have suffered a stroke without any other risk factors eg smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol.
Thanks for reading and have a lovely day
Yes! I had a mitral valve prolapse with severe regurgitation. At some point, I had a silent stroke, which came up on an MRI for something unrelated, but was then assumed to be caused by my heart problems. I also had a TIA about 9 months before my op to repair the valve. I have had nothing since and am approaching 3 years since my heart surgery.
Thank you for taking the time to reply 
Mine was a very loud stroke but they treated me for Migraine for two weeks in the hospital and said I was over-reacting. It was in the cerebellum so not your usual symptoms. Did they operate because of your stroke risk ? My valve is severe but my heart is coping so they won't. But I'm so scared I will have another one
I think the stroke and TIA clearly played a part in the decision to operate, but I think probably only a minor one given that the first was silent and left no after effects. I had been monitored by my cardiologist for a couple of years because although I had severe regurgitation, I had no symptoms. I went to the gym 5 times a week and felt fine. Whilst I was keen to have the repair whilst I was young and able to recover, he was of the view that any operation is risky and should be delayed. He did agree to do a stress test because my fitness level and activities were at odds with the severity of the prolapse and regurgitation. That was just before the first lock down and I was supposed to see him to get the results, which were “better than expected”. Rather than see me he said he would refer the results to a surgeon for an opinion. Next thing I know, I’m talking to the surgeon about having an operation within 3 months because I was at the top of his list, and if I wasn’t so fit, I wouldn’t be able to get dressed without being breathless! I had my repair, ablation and ligation via a minimally invasive procedure and am back to a normal life now. I had a good relationship with my cardiologist and was able to email his secretary about my concerns eg when I reacted badly to my first blood thinner medication. If you don’t have one you can trust, could you ask your GP to refer you elsewhere?
Such a positive story and thank you for sharing. I had my stroke in November last year but it wasn't acknowledged until February of this and I do have complications unfortunately . I think they take silent stroke just as seriously. A stroke is a stroke! My cardiologist is kind but evasive and talks at you. He monitors me yearly with echo but we talk on the phone now - COVID I guess. It does worry me though as it was a consultant that knew me well who ordered more tests when he saw me after the hospital discharged me and he could see how different I was. Sometimes you need to physically see people to know things are off. In all fairness he probably doesn't know about the stroke, my nurologist has written so we will see. I just wanted to know others experience so I have a better formed opinion when I do have an exchange with him.
Thanks again
hi. I had severe mitral valve regurgitation and had my first replacement in sept 21. Unfortunately I then contracted endocarditis (not diagnosed until Dec 21) and had a major stroke in nov 21 when part of the infection broke off and travelled to my brain. I was lucky to have a thrombectomy but the endocarditis meant that I needed a further valve replacement in Jan 22. I was told by the stroke consultant that I had no other risk factors and that the stroke was purely as a result of the then undiagnosed endocarditis. I needed a 2nd valve replacement in Jan 22 and was told that they normally leave it 3 months after a stroke but in my case they did it as an emergency.
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