My son has been treated for Aortic Stenosis he also has a mitral valve in parachute. Is the operation serious?

Question

My son has been treated for Aortic Stenosis when he was a baby, he also has a mitral valve in parachute. Is the operation dangerous? Is the survival rate high? What are his expectations of living a "normal" life? Is is his life expectancy normal (will he reach a common old age?)

Answer 1

I am sorry to read your son's condition, I have searched out this link and you will get an insight view:

http://www.emedicine.com/ped/topic2178.htm

Answer 2

Provided he gets excellent medical and surgical care, your son's life will very likely be normal in every way! Based on the information you have provided there is no reason to believe your son has Shone's syndrome or any other specific condition. When a person is born with any one genetic defect of the left ventricular outflow tract it is highly common for that person to have other defects.

In most high-volume US medical centers mitral valves like your son's are most usually repaired and these repairs are expected to last a lifetime (although it is true that the medical data does not yet support that expectation because the studies are not yet long enough to). If your son was "treated" for aortic stenosis as a baby, it is quite possible, even likely, he will one day require surgery to replace that valve. In a high-volume US medical center this procedure carries very low risk on average and probably less risk for a younger patient. If both procedures are done at the same time, the risks rise only VERY slightly.

The key to a great outcome is finding the right doctor for the job. Dr. Bove at the U. of Michigan is a guru of congenital cardiothoracic surgery. The Cleveland Clinic is one of (if not THE top) top centers in the US. Either will do a telephone consult.

All the best to you.

Answer 3

Joe - I'm sorry to hear about your son's heart problems. You should know that the link that LovingHeart provides above is NOT pertinent to your son's condition. The combination of congenital aortic stenosis and parachute mitral valve would be consistent with something we call "Shone's syndrome", also referred to as "Shone's anomaly" or "Shone's complex".

As with any heart surgery, the operation has risks, but in experienced hands has generally good results. A recent paper published by the pediatric heart surgery group from Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis reported that all 27 kids who underwent this surgery at their hospital between 1978 and 2003 survived their initial surgery. 15 years after the surgery, 89% of the kids were still alive, and of these, all had mild or no limitation in their functional ability.

It is impossible to know how his life expectancy will be since we only started doing open heart surgery on children in the 1950s. Before then, kids with Shone's syndrome almost never survived to adulthood. Also, the expected life expectancy will depend greatly upon how severe his mitral valve abnormality is, how good his heart function is, and how well the surgery goes. Therefore, the people who can best answer your question about expectations of living a normal life and life expectancy are the surgeon and the cardiologist who know your child's specific medical history.

Hope that helps! Good luck to you!

Answer 4

You did not wrote how old he is today?Any way it is something like giving a advise to make you please ! See God is great and believe in miracle to happen ! He surely will live long and will reach his old age if he continue to observe his way of life ! Aortic stenosis is known for its fatality and also mitral valve too ! But if we take care mostly in physical work and psychological problame and if injection of long acting penicillin is continued once in 3 week for life time and also anti coagulant for life time than i do not see why he should not live happily till he becomes old ! I am doctor and I have such patient also who lived long enough to achieve old age of say 70 + so do not worry and do what your cardiologist says ! and also start believing in religion ! Always YouRsmE