Heart valve leak?

[kaitlander]

What are my options after having a ASD/PFO closure that is leaking 3 years post opp?

[kaitlander]

You were plenty helpful! I was kind of thinking the same thing as far as surgery goes. I am hoping I will maybe just be put on blood thinners to reduce the risk of strokes, and then call it a day.
I will post more after I actually speak to the cardiologist, after all of my test results come back. Thanks again!

[ed34]

I'm sorry but apart from surgery I don't know what the options would really be. The idea was that you would grow new tissue across the device which would make it very difficult to remove. Unless the manufacturer left some mechanism in the closure device to allow this then I can't see any option apart from surgery. I hope your Cardiologist comes up with an easier solution. Please keep us informed about what the Cardiologist says, and perhaps they will decide that no action is necessary depending on the results of your next test. I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help, but if you hover your mouse over the Expert  section above, you can then select 'ask an expert forum'. Then click on the relevant forum and post your question.

[kaitlander]

I had an angioplasty. I still haven't talked to my cardiologist about it yet, because they are waiting to do one more test.
When they did the bubble study on me, most of the bubbles passed through the leak at about 5-6 seconds after insertion.

[ed34]

Was the closure repaired through open heart surgery? or was it implanted using angioplasty (Catheter) ? How bad is the leak?