William's Profile

I am a 65 year old male with severe bicuspid aortic stenosis. I have known about this problem for years, the doctor has been monitoring it with yearly echo cardigrams. In November 2011 the echo showed a pressure gradiant of 34 still in the moderate range. in January I started to notice shortness of breath and some chest pain, when I mentioned this to my doctor at my regular appointment in march 2012 he immediately ordered another echo. Th echo showed a pressure gradiant of 40 which moved it to severe. He then ordered a cardiac cath I had the cardiac cath monday April 2nd 2012 which showed a pressure gradiant of 52. my condition went from moderate to severe in less than 6 months. I am scheduled for valve replacement may 8th at St Luke's hospital in St Louis. I am in the process of researching the different valves available. I am leaning toward a mechanical valve specifically ith ON-X valve. Bill Fix