I used to do quite some running 10 years ago (still at amateur level), I was doing lots of 10k and 20k and even I managed a marathon in 3h:26min (but at that time I didnt know about the BAV). Shes quite the athlete. My son was just told he made the varsity basketball team as a freshman. The worse the narrowing, the greater will be the difference in blood pressure between the arms and the legs. Males are about twice as . I cant wait to be back, completely rested with my heart recharged, my passion for the work ahead purposeful and my joy at lifes pleasures high," the statement continued. This can be a life-threatening problem and is more apt to occur with progressive enlargement of the aorta and with uncontrolled high blood pressure. In the blog post, I talked about the circumstances when operation is needed.as well as when sports are generally safe. I have 4 children and a great wife. The actress, 44, found out she had a leaky valve in 2002. I have just one thing bothering me, and that is healing of tissue surrounding heart and also chest muscles, nerves and so on. "Women are the natural caregivers; we take care of everyone else under the sun," she says. After an echo and an MRI with and without contrast, I found out that I have a BAV with mild aortic and pulmonic valve regurgitation. Yes, as the patient grows, so will the aorta.and eventually you get to the traditional >40 mm cutoff where activity restrictions are advised. I was diagnosed age 4 and am now 35. I look forward to hearing from you. Is a CT or MRI absolutely necessary for measuring the aortic diameter? Another possibility that you havent mentioned deserves some discussion with your sons doctor(s) or surgeon. Enlargement of the left ventricle can be an indication that the heart suffers from the aortic regurgitation, even if the regurgitation doesnt produce symptoms like shortness of breath. Im not looking forward competitions nor marathons. Aortic dilatation is a common feature of BAV with a prevalence ranging from 20 to 84% , due to differences in assessment techniques, study population, aortic size thresholds, and heterogeneous nature of the . (bicuspid aortic valve), singer Bret Michaels (atrial septal defect), and even 'Survivor' contestant Whitney Duncan (ASD). Semilunar valves: The pulmonary valve and aortic valve. His cardiologist told him to focus on basketball. Guidelines suggest that athletes with BAV, normal size aorta, and no more than mild aortic regurgitation or stenosis can participate in all sports, without restriction.provided that they do not have an inherited connective tissue disorder like Marfan's's syndrome. However, is there any advantage to having them screen in their first decade of life, if they are not showing any symptoms? I am concerned about removing the coronary arteries and re attaching them again etc. Best to mention your participation in the marathon when you have the tests done. Celebrity. As of Monday, my BP at the echo appointment read 115/66. Regarding the PEARS, the main concern is about the possibility that the aorta dissects even in a controlled measure (lets say 4.5cm). Thanks so much My Echo Stress Test is normal but when I finish obviously the pressure is higher (190-80 at the end) . Your site has been helpful in provided a sense of peacebut an extra insight would be super encouraging. Stress echo revealed hypercontractile with normal response in all LV segments, no LV cavitary dialiation. This have affected my son psychologically since he loves playing soccer what should I do. In the 2.5 years from surgery, I returned back to riding within the first 3 months and later back to longer, decent training pace rides and racing but feel like I have lost my top end mojo. I like to practice MTB and running competitively in local races. Finding this site is such a relief / source of hope for me thanks so much Dr. Larry!. I too am looking for information on effects to performance since I am a Masters racing cyclist with 25 years of racing/riding long events. I certainly know of athletes who return to all forms of endurance sport as well as weight-lifting after operations like yours. March 10, 2016 at 1:50 pm. I am a 23 year old male, have BAV with mild AR. Went through the process of antibiotic therapy and. Max Page - Child Actor (Darth Vader in VW Superbowl ad) - Tetralogy of Fallot. My son is 12 years old. Also twice a week I try to do 40-minute workouts like planks, pushups and so on (with my bodyweight). I have 5 children, so I dont want to drop dead and leave my poor wife with them all to look after on her own. The valve may also become stiff due to calcium deposits on the leaflets over time. We were to see them in 3 months. The mechanical valve conduit replaces the valve with a mechanical valve and the aorta with a Dacron fabric tube. He would be devastated to never be able to play again. I have found your article(s) very useful amongst what I see as so much mis-information out there. I would defer to Dr. Dietz since youve already contacted him. This year (her junior year) her Cardio doc is saying that she cant in good conscious clear her for basketball (the sport my daughter LOVES). Others won't have symptoms until adulthood, if ever. Im hoping you can help with some guidance. Is it right to declared someone having BAV unfit for the post of a chemist? What he did say is there are no signs of stenosis, and my heart looks very strong. I dont know about the relative effectiveness of various ARBs used for this purpose. Search Heart Hospitals I am riding my 3 rd anual Belgian Waffle Ride today. Aortic regurgitation (also called aortic insufficiency), which is a leaky valve. I have severe aortic stenosis with no signs or symptoms. Its a lot harder in the UK to see your cardiologist so you cant get the answers quickly. Ive yet to feel like Im back to my previous racing fitness that I once had. I was also advised that it is really the static weight-lifting that could pose a problem. I had an echo because of a scuba diving accident and was discovered to have a BAV (no PFO). In fact, in some people they can go undiagnosed for years. I am a cycling Masters racer (Cat 2) for last 25 years . Hi Dr. Creswell. Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window). It was reported on April 5 that the 75-year-old Jagger underwent successful transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) at an undisclosed hospital in New . Last echo measurements LDid 6.3cm z-score 2.4, LVIDs 4.1 cm z-score 2.0, LVPWd 1.2cm z-score 1.9, asc aorta Diam 4.0 cm z-score 5.8. I get the fact that lifting excessively can cause a spike in blood pressure, but only under certain conditions (i.e. Unfortunately, I really cant point you to such studies. Thank you for your time. Im not sure how those two problems would be related. He was just diagnosed with functional BAV due to partial stuck together of two leaflets (out of three, as far as I understand, they are equal). I have appointment with a cardiologist on Friday but in the meantime i would like to know weather in case of surgery a replacement of the valve is definitely necessary or my condition still allows some options for a surgery without replacement. Our only tool to keep track of aortic enlargement is repeated measurements with CT or echo. Aortic valve stenosis: Your aortic valve narrows, reducing blood flow through it. Any person in my family there was no problem with the heart. Index to blog posts and online articles, Filed Under: Heart problems Tagged With: aorta, aortic aneurysm, arotic valve, bicuspid aortic valve, congenital heart disease, heart, heart surgery. Im 32 years old and back in 09 I discovered I have a BAV. I am healthy, strong, and active. His favorite sports are football and baseball. Well, as it happens, the Cleveland Clinic has been recently rated the top heart hospital in the nation, and the number two hospital overall. The procedure has the potential to bring the aorta to 4.3/4.4 and avoid further enlargement. They call this type of heart attack the Widow Maker," she wrote. It would be great to know what happens to groups of patients after AVR and aortic replacement that have returned to their various sports. I have read that strength training is beneficial for heart health. Ive seen several cardiologist and they are divided in recommendations. They are also predisposed to enlargement of the ascending aorta, the large blood vessel that carries blood flow away from the heart. Interestingly, bicuspid valves are one of the most common forms of heart valve disease. Seven months ago I had emergency AVR due to a BAV that was severely compromised by endocarditis. that suffer from heart valve disease along with a link to the reference story about their heart valve disease and their Twitter handle can be found below: ), the famous American television anchor, suffers from, ), the Olympic Gold Medalist (Soccer) suffered from, ), a comedian and broadcaster, suffers from a. People can live normal lives with Congenital Heart Defects. Currently, it is estimated that about 5% of those with bicuspid aortic valve disease will experience aortic dissection. Celebrities With Heart Disease - Celebrity Heart Health Survivors. My son is a baseball player, so that is good. And, if so, how did things go? Individuals with BAV can develop progressive narrowing or obstruction of the valve, leaking of the valve, and . Im keeping my heart rate below 150, 160 at most but just for short period of time. 24 HOUR GYM This is ridiculous. For some reason I did not receive a notification of your reply, so apologies that I havent thanked you before. Ordinarily, we reserve operation for patients with severe aortic regurgitation who have some decrement in the LV function. My resting pulse is 55 and BP 115/82. That said, the recommendations dont address WHEN that screening should occur. I had a scan done recently and they picked up a what they called a mild dilation of the aortic root at 47mm, ascending aorta 34mm, no other issues. Those with symptoms are usually identified (BECAUSE of those symptoms) in the first year or two of life. Lynn. My aorta diameter is 4.0 cm and has increased by 0.8 cm (from 3.2 cm) in the past 5 years so the diameter is increasing rapidly. This valve repair option is one that might best be pursued at a center that specializes in this problem. Women are 50 percent more likely to be given a wrong diagnosis after a heart attack and are at a greater risk of dying within a year of a heart attack than men. The aortic valve prevents blood from flowing back into the left ventricle of the heart. Some people with bicuspid aortic valve will have symptoms in early childhood. This is an unfortunate situation for the athlete patient because the consensus guidelines do not yet recommend operation, yet advise against strenuous sports activities. Weve known the risks and my daughter has done well to avoid scrapping for the ball etc. Periodic re-evaluation with echocardiogram and/or CT scanning is used for most patients in this circumstance. I had an exercise tolerance test recently and they seemed happy with my results so fingers crossed thats a good indication I can carry on training hard! Today at my hospital, we do most 1st time aortic valve replacements for aortic stenosis (narrowing) this way and have started using TAVR for patients with previous AVR using tissue valves who need re-replacement. If I ever need surgery to replace my root , I understand that there is an element of complexity for such surgery, but after surgery, is life expectancy for individuals assumed to be shortened at all ? "Until then, stay close.. Males are affected 3:1 compared to females.