Barbara Walters, US TV Anchor, to Undergo Heart Surgery to Replace a "Faulty Valve" - Sounds Like Aortic Stenosis



Walters announced that she will undergo surgery to replace a "faulty" heart valve later this week.

"You know how I always say to you how healthy I am. ... I've never missed a day's work," she began. "Later this week, I'm going to have surgery to replace one faulty heart valve."

From her description, the valve defect sounds like aortic stenosis. For a variety of reasons, mitral stenosis is a less likely possibility in the differential diagnosis.

Best wishes for successful surgery and speedy recovery!

References:
Barbara Walters to Undergo Heart Surgery. ABC.

5 comments:

  1. From what I've read, I don't know what she has. Couldn't it also be Aortic Insufficiency, which has finally started to dilate her ventricle? I read this had been picked up on her echocardiogram in the past.

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  2. She said the valve has become narrower = stenosis. Insufficiency = dilation.

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  3. She said valve was "getting tighter and smaller." Would therefore be stenosis, probably aortic.

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  4. Yep. Aortic stenosis (related to aging, wall/valve degeneration/HTN) is much more common than mitral stenosis - classically related to rheumatic fever. "Nobody" has rheumatic fever nowadays. The correct diagnosis has to be aortic stenosis...

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  5. Most propably calcific aortic stenosis which can be replaced by transcatheter ballon instead of surgery. I wish her luck and ask her to think about this.

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