[ Post a Response | ECHO Dialogue ]
Posted by Catriona
on October 17, 2009, 22:35:11, in reply to "Re: ECG tape"
82.27.178.219
Hi Pippa,
Amy has a cleft in her mitral valve - it developed since having her AVSD repaired (a year ago last week). I believe it's a kind of 'gap' in the valve, that allows the blood to flow back into the left atrium instead of out to the rest of the body, with the result that the left atrium gets overloaded, which can lead to all the usual symptoms of breathlessness etc. I don't think it's especially common, but some kids do seem to develop it after having AVSD repair.
Amy's on lisinopril (an ace-inhibitor) every day because of it, and it's fairly stable for now. Her cardiologist was seeing her every couple of months, but it's now six months til our next appointment (by far the longest we've ever gone!). I think the expectation is that she will need further surgery at some point to repair the cleft - but I've been told that this is pretty straightforward in comparison with the original op, and that she should be OK as she is for the foreseeable future.
Hope that's some help. Thinking of you as you prepare for Leo's surgery. (Have been laughing at your posts about your 'slanket' - there was an ad for something that looked pretty suspiciously similar in today's Guardian, and I thought of you!)
Catriona x
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