When you hear things like shortness of breath, fatigue, and chest pain, you know they are symptoms of a heart attack. But it could also represent something else with your heart, called Aortic Valve Stenosis.
“Live in the D” Host, Tati Amare spoke with Dr. Delair Gardi and Dr. Carlos Oviedo with Heart and Vascular Consultants to get the details on a new treatment option that will have you up and walking the next day.
So first, what is Aortic Valve Stenosis? According to Oviedo, the aorta is a major valve that connects the heart with the rest of the body. Sometimes this valve becomes stiffer and the blood cannot travel through it to the rest of the body as easily.
Symptoms include shortness of breath, dizziness, light-headedness, chest pain or discomfort, difficulty exercising, or feeling like your heart is going too fast. Aortic Stenosis is something that can happen with age, be caused by an infection, or be there from birth and it should be checked out by a medical professional.
The good news is there is a new way to fix it, Gardi said. The old method of fixing it required open-heart surgery with a valve replacement. Nowadays, Gardi said you can do the surgery in a minimally invasive way, going up through the groin to place a pig valve with a stint in the aorta and open it to free up the valve.
This new method is an outpatient producer and allows the patient to recover in about a day, a huge improvement compared to the many days needed to recover from open heart surgery.
This is a procedure close to Gardi’s heart because his mother suffered from Aortic Stenosis. After she received the surgery, she was back on her feet and better than ever, living 15 more happy years.
In addition to English, they speak Spanish and Arabic at the Heart and Vascular Clinic. For a special message in Spanish from Oviedo, watch the video above.
To find out more about all that Heart and Vascular Consultants can do to help you have a healthy heart, click or tap here or call 313-832-8888.