Kauvery Kathaigal : 5
The Restricted Heart: Safe Passage for Two
Patient: She looked a happy and healthy primi.
Diagnosis: Restrictive Cardio Myopathy, a rather uncommon malady of the heart.
Patient's Story
She looked like a happy and healthy primi who was advised early delivery of her child by Caesarian Section. But she was not sure why. She felt that the doctor thought something was not quite right with her heart. But she felt just fine. I studied her notes. I noted a floppy leaflet of her mitral valve that prolapsed in systole, leading to a mitral regurgitation. Systemic blood pressure that was being passed onto the left atrium was crossing over the capillary bed to cause significant pulmonary hypertension which enlarged Rt Ventricle and Atrium. That stretched the Tricuspid valve ring, causing a tricuspid regurgitation. So, she had two major valves that leaked. But she also had a stiff cardiac apex. That made it a Restrictive Cardio Myopathy, a rather uncommon malady of the heart.
Conclusion
She needed all that to be repaired, not replaced. Fortunately, we both have the right doctors, with the right skill and the right technology, to intervene at the right time. Meanwhile, we shall handhold her and keep her safe.
Early detection and trusted hands turn a hidden danger into a safe journey.
