Is valve replacement surgery needed for childhood problem?

[mohan_dandamudi]

Hi, I.m Mohan my mother has problem with a single heart valve which doesn't function properly since she was 5 yrs old and now she is around 60 yrs old now the the doctors advising to take open heart i.e. heart valve replacement operation as her other valve is now little bit damaged due to excessive work as doctors said bu some doctors say it is need not to be operated because it is childhood disease.
My question is operation is required or not . If yes is it ok for operation bcause now she is 60 but she doesn't any problems with blood pressure and sugar.
and if anybody which place would the best in Hyderabad

[kastet]

hi

[Jeffrey R Boris, M.D.]

Dear Mohan,

From the information that you are giving me, I have no way of being able to tell what is going on with your mother’s heart or her valve.  I can say that there are plenty of people born with problems with heart valves that don’t initially cause problems.  However, over time, the valve can deteriorate and cause more leakage, obstruction, or both, to the point that it is causing the heart to work more.  At that point, it does require surgical repair or replacement, depending on what the valve looks like and if it can be repaired.  I cannot say whether your mother is cleared from a cardiac standpoint for an operation because I do not take care of adult patients; this will be up to her primary care physician as well as the anesthesiologist and the surgeon.  I can say, though, that good cardiac surgical centers frequently perform cardiac surgery in patients much older than 60.  Unfortunately, I am not familiar with India to be able to tell you the location of a good cardiac surgical center in Hyderabad.

[EchoTech]

I am not a doctor.

It would be advisable to get all of the doctors involved in your mother's care to come to an agreement. There are benefits and problems with doing valve surgery, and benefits and problems with not doing the surgery.  If you are in India, I might be able to assume that the heart suffers from rheumatic fever changes, but it is speculation. Without seeing the echo pictures, it is impossible to specualte or guess on what course of action would be the best for your mother.  60 is a young age for valve surgery (relatively speaking), so that should not be a problem.