Aortic Reguritation and high altitude

[debbie041553]

My husband has aortic reguritation with an aortic aneurysm that is currently being watched but will have surgery in the next year. He is currently deployed to Afghanistan in an area that is at 7500 ft above sea level. He wasn't experiencing an symptoms until he got to this base. Will the altitude be adversely be affecting his heart?

[ed34]

At 7000 feet, oxygen saturation in the blood starts to get affected and produces symptoms in some people, such as shortness of breath, swelling of hands and feet etc. I think the key issue here is his blood pressure, he doesn't want it getting high. You don't say how bad the Aortic valve regurgitation is? I assume mild? in which case is not an issue. I also assume your Husband is generally fit, meaning his body will adapt to the altitude. He will start to produce a higher volume of red blood cells to carry additional oxygen around the body. Until that happens his heart will increase in rate so he just needs to go to the medic and ask to have his pressure checked. Different people will react differently at this altitude, depending on their general fitness. People with heart disease for example will suffer much more. If his blood pressure isn't extreme then there is really nothing to be concerned about because this is all that will really affect the aneurysm.

[skydnsr]

Agree with achillea on both counts, that you might want to consider posting on the expert forum and also that more information is needed, such as the nature of his job duties, the size of the aneurysm, and the severity of the regurgitation.  If he has been told by a doctor that he will need surgery within the next year, I am having trouble featuring that he has been deployed to Afganistan in any capacity.  Most people who are expected to need surgery within the next year have at least moderate regurgitation, a large aneurysm, or both.  Were I in that situation, and I have been, I would not want to be living many thousands of miles from a top-flight surgery center.  It's too far, in case of an emergency.  When you're a year away from surgery for this condition, you're in the count-down phase.  I don't know how much the altitude will affect him, because that's probably very individual.  7500 ft is pretty high.  But it's the distance away from expert care that is an even more obvious concern.  There's no way to get acclimated to that.  Stuff can happen.

[achillea]

Is your husband military?  It's hard to imagine that with his known medical conditions, he would be deployed to altitude, though 7500 is not terribly high.

In any case, your question is medically important and a tad complicated, so you might want to post it in the Heart Disease Expert Forum here, where a doc will answer you:

http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Heart-Disease/show/114