Mitral Valve prolapse

[pizzal4ever]

Hi beautiful people,

I have mitral mitral valve prolapse with moderate/severe mitral regurgitation and also get Afib episodes sometime would like to know if anyone is going through this, and if yes did you do the surgery? How is the recovery process from an open heart surgery?

[PadThaiNoodles]

I'm 4 weeks post-surgery. I was never symptomatic, but they decided it was time when my regurgitation reached severe and my left ventricle started to enlarge to compensate.

I won't kid you; the surgery is a bit like getting run over by a bus. But you do get through it. My sternum still hurts a little and it's annoying to still not be able to lift heavy things or drive, but I feel a lot better each week.

[Note: I also had to have my aortic valve replaced with a mechanical valve, so my total cardio-pulmonary bypass time was 159 minutes. I suspect a shorter CPB time usually equates to a faster recovery if you're only having a single valve done.]

[Reggaelover]

Hi Pizzal4ever,

I was first diagnosed with mild mitral valve regurgitation back in 2014 at the age of 54. After competing in a 10k race, I had an episode of Afib, which was later corrected by cardioversion. An echocardiogram revealed the MVR and I was subsequently monitored annually by a cardiologist. Then 8 years later in 2022, the Afib returned, again corrected by cardioversion, and I was told that my MVR had become severe. I was then referred for surgery to repair the leak.

I had my surgery via sternotomy in April 2024 at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle upon Tyne, quite close to where I live. My recovery was very quick and uneventful but the process of recovery is very much an individual experience. I was fortunate that I was always fit and active and my symptoms were only mild.

Regarding my recovery, I spent a day and a half in ICU before being moved to a recovery ward where I stayed for 4 days before being discharged home. The day following surgery I didn’t feel like eating much and was a bit sick but after that I was fine. I had my catheter and drain tubes removed on day 2 and my pacing wires on day three. After that I was able to move around, walk, shower etc very much as normal. I had minimal pain from the sternotomy, which healed well, although I did have some nerve pain and weakness in my left shoulder and arm, which took around 6 weeks to settle. Apparently, such nerve pain is not uncommon following OHS as opening the chest can stretch and pinch nerves. After surgery, you’re encouraged to breathe deeply and cough hard to bring up mucus and fluid - this is a bit painful and you’re advised to hug a pillow or rolled up towel when you cough. I also experienced a few minor visual disturbances for a few days, consisting of a patchy kaleidoscope effect in my peripheral vision and bright floating spots - apparently this is quite common too but was painless. Some refer to these visual disturbances as ocular migraines.

When I got home, I walked every day and very quickly was able to walk for 30-60 minutes. I had a minor setback a week or so after arriving home when I had a short episode of Afib but this corrected itself without any intervention and has not happened since. I completed my cardiac rehabilitation programme in August and very much enjoyed it. I am now back to my normal activities.

I was told that it would take around 6 months or more for my heart to remodel and heal. Initially, my heart rate was quite high (80-90) and I had missed and extra beats. But after a few weeks, my heart rate settled back to normal (50-60) and the missed and extra beats gradually disappeared.

Best wishes with your treatment going forward and if you have more questions, don’t hesitate to ask.

[Damianp]

I had open heart surgery for a mitral valve repair on Sept 7this year. Op went well,felt good and no problem for first week after. Then I had an episode when my heart started racing which was frightening as I hadn't been told that might happen very clearly. No more problems since, but you should be aware that happens in about a third of ops.Overall I would say in my case operation was okay.

[SoulSprout]

Hi I was diagnosed with Mitral Regurgitation (moderate) a few years ago which has progressed slightly enough to now be considered severe. I signed up to this today because it’s made me very anxious about the future. I’m only 43 and up to last year was still playing mixed age football, so I find it hard to think I’m in this position of having a heart condition. I’m just looking to reach out and maybe connect with anyone that also knows what it’s like to be in this situation and maybe shared experiences etc.

[PadThaiNoodles in reply to SoulSprout]

Are you symptomatic yet? If not, you can just carry on with yearly echos until your LV starts to show dilation or you develop symptoms. At that point they'll probably want to operate.

I was at severe for 10 years before showing LVH (though my cardiologist did say that was an unusually slow progression). I never did have any symptoms.

I'm now 9 weeks post-op (they did my aortic valve as well), and feeling pretty spiffy.

[SoulSprout]

thanks for replying so quickly, may not always do that! I feel like I might be starting to get very very mild symptoms like occasional light headiness but I played 90 minutes of football about 6 months ago and at 43, I didn’t feel like it was beyond me so assumed that is hadn’t really worsened. I don’t feel like I could do that now though. I recently had an echo after being monitored annually then had a 2 year gap and I’ve been told I’ll go back in 6 months for another. That didn’t fill me with confidence!

I’ll be honest, the thought of surgery absolutely terrifies me!

I’m really glad you feel great and it went well. I feel like maybe I don’t even know how bad it affects me because to me the changes are so gradual. I just try to be positive and think maybe if I did have it fixed I’d feel like a new person! I suppose I just wanted to reach out to people because it’s something that only people experience can genuinely relate to.

Thanks again for replying. It’s already helped hearing about your positive experience. I really appreciate it