After Open heart surgery

Question

My husband is 31 years old & just went through open heart surgery to repair his mitral valve. He had severe regurgitation. Since before he went in for the surgery he has been taking Cardizem 120 & even after surgery they kept him on the medication with 1 baby aspirin a day. They said they would monitor him for the next few months and decide if he can come off or not. Since then he had his echo cardiogram & they reported his heart muscle function has decreased. And i would assume his ejection fraction is lower then they would like for a man of his age. I know the ejection fraction right after surgery was 46% & before surgery it was 55% (they did an echo cardiogram before being discharged) .. I am wondering if the ejection fraction can be reversed ? or is this common after someone having surgery ? They started him on Toprol XL 25. The cardiologist says its the lowest dose. I am very very very concerned about heart failure. He is in great shape & feeling the best he has ever felt .. what gives ?

Pacemakertechcanada · Answer

Has anyone discussed a Cardiac resyncronization therapy device with you both? It's a pacemaker that has 3 wires inside the heart to make both ventricles contract at the same time increasing his cardiac output and therefore his ejection fraction. Our patients say it's like night and day with their failure symptoms. There's other factors in being a candidate and that depends on the hospital. But you may want to look into this option.

Glam0urgirl · Answer

Thank you so much for your reply. He had a Mitral valve repair. There are no signs of regurgitation. He said he feels great !  As far as exercise tolerance he passed the stress test before the surgery with severe regurgitation lol, and his line of business is construction (which he is back at work) He is definitely taking it easy ( i hope )

Thanks again

DrAnitha · Answer

Hi, what was the surgery done? was it Valvuloplasty or valvotomy? it will take time post surgery for the heart condition to settle down. Hope the regurgitation has settled down and hope there is no evidence of pulmonary hypertension. His ejection fraction should improve. Your doctor may ask for stress testing to see his exercise tolerance. So, please continue with the protocol given by your doctor and good luck with his recovery. Regards.