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Suggest Treatment For Sub Aortic Membrane Growing

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Posted on Sat, 5 Apr 2014
Question: My 10 year old son has a sub aortic membrane growing. The number from the Echo is 38 and they told me 60 was danger mark. His cardio is recommending surgery this summer to remove it. What I want to know is what the surgery entails (he is having open heart) , all details, what amt of recovery time is involved, hospital stay, heart lung machine, will he be intubated after surgery, pain and amt of pain meds will be needed because I want to make sure he is comfortable. We couldn't discuss any of this with Cardio as son was in room and we didn't want him anymore fearful. He will be seeing a psychologist to talk more about this and build his confidence that he will be ok. Is this something that occurs a lot in premature children? Boys? Why does it happen? I have heart disease (mother) on my side of the family. Also on my husbands side from Germany he has a cousin that is over 7ft tall and like a giant, very big man, plus obesity on mothers side along with diabetes. But I want to go into this surgery knowing everything I can about this membrane removal if its fairly simple and if its because its under the sub aortic valve that's why they have to crack his chest and not do it laproscopically as I heard at one point they could do it that way...our cardio gave us a 20% chance it could grow back when earlier I was given a percentage of 60% when he was younger, what made the percentage of growing back go down? His age? Being older? Also will this help him with some of his other problems with his asthma, breathing, extensive coughing, bouts of pneumonia etc. He gets pneumonia every winter and every time he gets it, we need approx. 5 antibiotics to clear it up and 3-5 rounds of Medrol dose packs as well. This last pneumonia was close to his heart and they called it Retrocardiac pneumonia . What does that mean? Thanks for any and all help.
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Answered by Dr. Benard Shehu (13 hours later)
Brief Answer: Following answers to your queries... Detailed Answer: Hi, I have gone through the medical history of your son and feel sorry for the situation he is in. The growing sub aortic membrane is a congenital condition which runs in families. However, it is not directly related to what your relatives have. The unique treatment of this condition is open heart surgery which is also associated with post-operation pain. However, this is the unique treatment with a guaranteed success and less chances for repetitive surgery. There is another minimal invasive methods with micro-bots. Although less invasive and painful, there are high chances for other interventions later in life. His doctor will decide the best option for your son. As per my opinion, I agree for open heart surgery. This intervention requires sternotomy, extra corporal circulation and then, excision of the membranes. If, during the intervention, the aortic valve is involved, then, would consider a complete substitution of the valve. With regards to duration, this operation will require few hours. After the intervention is finished, your son will be sent to the reanimation room for the next 24 hours, and then, sent to the cardio-surgery ward for other 5 - 6 days depending on his health condition. After being released from the ward, he might be sent to the post-recovery center until complete recovery. Wish all the best to your son and all of you! Feel free to ask me other queries regarding the health status of your son! I'd be honored to assist you! Dr.Benard
Note: For further queries related to coronary artery disease and prevention, click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Dr. Benard Shehu

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Practicing since :2004

Answered : 2257 Questions

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Suggest Treatment For Sub Aortic Membrane Growing

Brief Answer: Following answers to your queries... Detailed Answer: Hi, I have gone through the medical history of your son and feel sorry for the situation he is in. The growing sub aortic membrane is a congenital condition which runs in families. However, it is not directly related to what your relatives have. The unique treatment of this condition is open heart surgery which is also associated with post-operation pain. However, this is the unique treatment with a guaranteed success and less chances for repetitive surgery. There is another minimal invasive methods with micro-bots. Although less invasive and painful, there are high chances for other interventions later in life. His doctor will decide the best option for your son. As per my opinion, I agree for open heart surgery. This intervention requires sternotomy, extra corporal circulation and then, excision of the membranes. If, during the intervention, the aortic valve is involved, then, would consider a complete substitution of the valve. With regards to duration, this operation will require few hours. After the intervention is finished, your son will be sent to the reanimation room for the next 24 hours, and then, sent to the cardio-surgery ward for other 5 - 6 days depending on his health condition. After being released from the ward, he might be sent to the post-recovery center until complete recovery. Wish all the best to your son and all of you! Feel free to ask me other queries regarding the health status of your son! I'd be honored to assist you! Dr.Benard