How does alcohol affect someone who has been diagnosed with aortic valve stenosis?

---

My brother has been diagnosed with aortic valve stenosis and also is a smoker and does drink alcohol on the weekends. He knows smoking should be elimated but what about the effects of alcohol? Does this also contribute to his stenosis?
Hi dear....I think we all know, even the youngest person on this site knows, there are no GOOD things that come from smoking or alcohol. They are both addicting drugs that people do to appease themselves. Think about it.

Alcohol plus smoking are stimulants. A stimulant acts on the body by constricting the blood vessels. Caffeine too. Constricting means to make smaller. He has a valve that is smaller than it should be. No one knows what causes this but hereditary plays an important part.

Anyway, since it is naturally smaller, then one goes and drinks or smokes, the entire aortic artery itself gets smaller, along with the other arteries of the body.

Take a hose. Turn the water on a good strong ways. Then bend the hose on a spot making it difficult for the same amount of water to flow what was earlier. The water coming out the end is not as strong, yet the origin or the water is as strong at the spigot. All this water is being pushed against the bent area but is not getting through fast enough.

The spigot would be the heart. It is still pumping at the same strength it was before the drinking or cigarette, but it is pumping against a brick wall so to speak. The blood is not flowing through the constricted valve, and now not so good through the constricted artery, so it is backing up somewhat as well as the heart tries to pump harder to get it through.

It is a perfect recipe for congestive heart failure in the not too distant future. The heart muscle will enlarge as the muscle is being worked too hard, and that is NOT a good thing for a heart. It will be the ventricle that enlarges. The left ventricle pumps the blood through the lungs and since the enlarged ventricle is larger, it it not as effective, so the blood moves through the heart a little slower than normal and the lungs will pick up excess fluid from the blood and deposit it in the lungs making it very difficult to breathe. Left untreated it can kill you. However, the good news is: Surgery can cure the valve. He can have open heart surgery, and a replacement valve placed. My step dad had this and he was like a new man after. Naturally, he quit smoking after smoking for more than 60 years. He was 72 when he had the surgery.

Anyway, I think you can tell him all this, but he may not listen. That is just the way it is. Give him the knowledge. He will do with it what he will. Say a little prayer.

God bless you and him.

Checkout www.healthline.com. It and www.webmd.com are wonderful sites to find out all about medicines and disease processes.

I am an RN  (+ info)

Which biocompatible material would be best suited for replacing a tricuspid valve?

---

We've made a design for a new tricuspid valve for the heart and need to know which biocompatible material would be sturdy yet flexible and also durable....
A culture of the patients endothelial and fibrous tissues would be most bio compatible for replacing a tricuspid valve. All other materials would encounter rejection problems.  (+ info)

I have a leak in the mitral valve and a leak in tricuspid valve, can someone tell me something about this?

---

I just found out that I have a leak in two valves in my heart, the mitral valve and the tricuspid valve, can someone tell me about this, what does this mean? Is it dangerous? And tell the what questions I should ask my doc as I have an appointment with him.
Too bad you're not a car, I can do a valve job on a car. If you were a car, I would say you were probably running lean and the ignition timing was off. That's a sure way to crap out a valve.

I'm a mechanic, Jim, not a doctor.
^
^
^
Poor Star Trek joke.  (+ info)

What are the post op recommendations for pulmonary valve stenosis repair in infants?

---

My son recently underwent open heart surgery for stenosis of one of the pulmonary valves. It has been a week and a half since that and I'm following all of the doctors orders, but I would just like to know if there is anything else I can do to help him recover better/faster.
It is always good to follow your doctors advice.  (+ info)

My daughter has HLHS and she has had her final surgery the Fontan. mild leaking of the tricuspid valve ?

---

After her echo they refer to mild leaking of the tricuspid valve has anyone with hlhs experienced this?
Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS) is a condition in which the left side of the heart is underdeveloped. Usually, the left ventricle, the left atrium, the mitral valve and the aorta are affected. It is called a syndrome because it can encompass several different variations and varying degrees of development of these parts of the heart.


To understand HLHS, it is helpful to understand how a normal baby's heart works. The heart is comprised of four chambers: the upper chambers are called the left and right atria, and the lower chambers are called the left and right ventricles.


Very simply, in a healthy heart blood flows from the right atrium to the right ventricle where it is then pumped through the pulmonary artery to the lungs to be oxygenated. Blood then flows back to the heart via the left atrium to the left ventricle, which pumps this oxygenated blood through the aorta out to the body. This is how the body's organs and tissue receive oxygen, which is vital. When a baby has HLHS, the left side of the heart is underdeveloped so it cannot sufficiently pump the oxygenated blood out to the body.


Babies with HLHS do not have problems while in the womb - it is only after birth that the heart fails to work properly. This is because all babies receive oxygen from the placenta while in the womb, so blood does not need to go to the lungs. In addition, there is an opening between the pulmonary artery and the aorta, called the patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) that is present in all babies. It allows the blood to go from the right ventricle out to the body, bypassing the left side of the heart.


The PDA usually closes a few days after birth, separating the left and right sides of the heart. It is at this time that babies with undetected HLHS will exhibit problems as they experience a lack of blood flow to the body. They may look blue, have trouble eating, and breathe rapidly. If left untreated, this heart defect is fatal - usually within the first few days or weeks of life.


Once HLHS has been diagnosed, a drug called prostaglandin is given to keep the PDA open until surgery is performed. There are two surgical options for treating HLHS: a Heart Transplant or the 3-Stage Surgical Procedure, the first stage of which is called the Norwood procedure. (For bloodless surgical options, please see the Columbus Children's Hospital
website.)

3-STAGE SURGICAL PROCEDURE:
An alternative to a heart transplant is the 3-Stage Surgical Procedure. The 3-Stage Procedure reconstructs the child's heart allowing it to work using only two of the heart's four chambers.


The first stage is called the Norwood procedure, or the "Modified Norwood" which was developed in 1979 by Dr. William Norwood. Because the left ventricle cannot pump blood adequately out to the body, the Norwood procedure allows the right ventricle to pump blood to both the lungs and the body. This surgery is usually performed during the baby's first week of life. A new version of this first surgery is called the "Sano Shunt." Ask the surgeon about the pros and cons of the traditional Norwood vs. the Sano Shunt, how many of each he has performed, and what the success rates are.


The second stage procedure, called the Hemi-Fontan or Bidirectional Glenn, reduces the work of the right ventricle by allowing it to pump blood only to the body, and allowing most of the blood to flow automatically from the body into the lungs. The second stage is performed when the pressure in the baby's lungs has decreased, no longer requiring the pumping action of the right ventricle to get blood into the lungs. This surgery is usually performed at about 4-6 months of age when the traditional Norwood has been performed. When the Sano Shunt is performed, the second surgery usually needs to be done earlier - at about 3-4 months of age - and the babies need constant monitoring to determine when they are ready for the second surgery.


The third and final stage, the Fontan, allows the rest of the blood coming back from the body to go to the lungs. There are two different ways to perform the Fontan: The Lateral Tunnel Fontan, the traditional approach, and the newer External Conduit Fontan. The Lateral Tunnel Fontan is usually performed at about 18 months - 3 years of age, and the External Conduit Fontan is usually performed at about 3-4 years of age.


The External Conduit Fontan uses an external conduit, or tube, that is placed just outside the heart. It is hoped that by using this conduit that the potential for arrhythmias will be greatly reduced in the future. However, this is a relatively new procedure and the outcomes will not be known for several years. It is usually done later than the Lateral Tunnel Fontan because the child has to be big enough to handle a conduit that can handle the blood flow as the child grows.


There are pros and cons of each type of Fontan procedure, so make sure you discuss with your surgeon the different types of Fontan operations and what the risks and benefits are of each.


See our Resources Page for websites that contain more detailed explanations and diagrams of each of the surgeries  (+ info)

why is the valve in the right ventricle of the heart called the Tricuspid valve?

---

And also why is the valve in the left ventricle called the bicuspid valve
the tricuspid valve has three "flaps" and the bicuspid valve has two.  (+ info)

My Dr. says the result of my echocardiogram shows my tricuspid valve with a mild to moderate leakage?

---

Can this be repaired? Would it be the cause of recent chest discomfort & shortness of breath? Thanks to anyone that can help.
The chest pain and shortness of breath are unlikely to be related to your tricupsid regurgitation. The tricupsid valve is on the right side of the heart and does not produce symptoms related to the lung, such as shortness of breath or cough. Tricupsid regurgitation itself is not known to produce chest pain. Mild to moderate tricupsid regurgitation is unlikely to produce symptoms or need treatment. With severe disease you can develop lower extremity swelling, enlarged/painful liver and abdominal swelling.

Tricuspid regurgitation is most commonly functional, being caused by dilatation of the right ventricular and the tricuspid annulus. Right ventricular dilatation may result from any condition that directly involves the right ventricle or causes pulmonary hypertension and an elevation in right ventricular systolic pressure, leading to dilatation of the right ventricle and tricuspid annulus.The treatment for functional TR is to treat the underlying cause, such as primary pulmonary hypertension.

Most cases of tricupsid regurgitation do not require treatment. Treatment should be considered symptoms of right heart sided failure occur and are unresponsive to medical therapy. The tricupsid valve is virtually never replaced. It can be repaired with Tricuspid valve annuloplasty. The procedure is generally well tolerated. Anyways, discuss it with your doctor, because it is unlikely you even need it repaired.  (+ info)

Surgical treatment of tricuspid valve atresia?

---

I read about the sequence of surgeries: first the Blalock-Taussig shunt, then the Glenn operation, and then finally the Fontan procedure. Why is this sequence used? Why isn't the Glenn operation and the Fontan procedure done at the same time, and the Blalock-Taussig shunt skipped entirely? Thanks.
I have Tricuspid Atresia, but my surgical treatment was different. I had the Glenn procedure at six months; the Modified Blalock-Taussig at 10 years; and the Fontan at 21. But I was born in 1966, and they were using a different form of the Glenn back then. Today it is known as a "Bidirectional Glenn Shunt", and sends blood to both lungs. My Glenn only goes to the right lung -- according to my Cardiologist, they changed the way the operation was performed in the mid 1980's.

A "by-the-book" Modified Blalock-Taussig dictates the use of a Gortex tube to create the shunt, but surgeons like to keep things as simple as possible. The less time the patient is out; and the fewer times that he/she needs to be operated on, the better. So if it is possible to use existing blood vessels to create the shunt, the surgeon will do it.

The sequence of operations is dictated by what various medical tests show the doctors is the best route to take. And after the first operation, of course, the patient has a completely different anatomy. That also dictates what will happen next.  (+ info)

What is severe subpulmonary stenosis due to mitral valve chordal apparatus with a peak gradient of 72 mmHg?

---

My son is 9 months old and was born with a rare heart defect cctga. He was diagnoised 2 months ago and at his echo they wrote that on the results. I am going to ask when I go down in a month but I have noticed there are a few dr's. on here so I was hoping someone would have some insight. What does this mean and what questions should I be asking his card? thank you
CCTGA means congenitally corrected transposition of great arteries. In usual transposition aorta which should carry oxygenated blood gets connected to right ventricle and pulmonary artery which should be carrying deoxygenated blood to lungs gets connected to left ventricle. In congenitally corrected transposition, in addition to this, right atrium (upper chamber) connects to the left ventricle and left atrium connects to the right ventricle. So there is a double reversal which becomes near normal. This is because deoxygenated blood from right atrium goes to left ventricle and then through pulmonary artery, into the lungs for oxygenation. Similarly, oxygenated blood from left atrium goes to right ventricle and to the aorta, into the general circulation. So everything is fine till this as this is near normal functioning of the heart.


The addtional problem which your son is that he has a narrowing below the pulmonary valve, which may require correction at a suitable time, which only the treating doctor can tell you. The narrowing is due to the structures attached to the mitral valve (chordal apparatus) in the left ventricle, the ventricle which is connected to the pulmonary artery in his case. In a normal individual, left ventricle connects to the aorta and not the pulmonary artery.  (+ info)

Why endocarditis affect the mitral valve and not the tricuspid valve?

---

This is dealing with Cardiovascular disorders
An important factor in development of endocarditis that is the high pressure which's more common on left side ( where mitral valve present) so blood will gush forcefuly leading to tear of the valve and also fix bacteria on it that causes the disease.

But on Rt side ( tricuspid valve) there is low pressure source.  (+ info)

---

---

• Home
• Our method
• Usage examples
• Index

• Statistics
• Contact

---