{"id":33425,"date":"2021-01-01T08:29:06","date_gmt":"2021-01-01T15:29:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?p=33425"},"modified":"2022-11-16T11:01:14","modified_gmt":"2022-11-16T18:01:14","slug":"when-aortic-stenosis-becomes-severe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/when-aortic-stenosis-becomes-severe\/","title":{"rendered":"TAVR procedures resume during the coronavirus, bringing peace of mind to severe aortic stenosis patient"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Claire,
Although Claire Cafaro has to find other things to do (like reading “War and Peace) during COVID than her usual gym and senior center routine, she is feeling much better and glad she recently underwent TAVR to address her severe aortic stenosis. Photo courtesy of Claire Cafaro.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When Claire Cafaro set an appointment at her primary care office, it was for a cold.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, this was in January 2020, before cases of COVID-19 began surging in Colorado. So, Cafaro wasn\u2019t worried about the new coronavirus. But the now 87-year-old had been \u201cdragging\u201d more than normal and figured some antibiotics might do the trick.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t do household cleaning anymore, and I definitely wasn\u2019t vacuuming,\u201d she explained. \u201cI had reached the point, I\u2019d get up and eat breakfast and felt like I had to get back in bed and rest from that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cafaro met with Nurse Practitioner\u00a0Cyndi Loffler<\/a>\u00a0at\u00a0UCHealth Internal Medicine \u2013 Snow Mesa<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince she came in for a cold, I wasn\u2019t expecting to have this conversation with her,\u201d Loffler said. \u201cBut I listened to her heart and lungs and noticed her aortic stenosis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cafaro knew about her heart valve disease. In 2017, she was diagnosed with moderate aortic stenosis, a common issue where the opening of the aortic valve narrows, restricting the blood flow in the heart. It\u2019s recommended that patients see their cardiologist for regular monitoring because once aortic stenosis becomes severe and symptoms get worse, it can be life-threatening.<\/p>\n

\u201cAortic stenosis is a mechanical issue \u2014 it doesn\u2019t go away until it is fixed,\u201d said\u00a0Dr. Brad Oldemeyer<\/a>, an interventional cardiologist with\u00a0UCHealth Heart and Vascular Center<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 Medical Center of the Rockies. \u201cIt is different with every person, but once it begins to change, it changes quickly. It leads to congestive heart failure and death (at a rate of 50% within two years).\u201d<\/p>\n

Severe aortic stenosis<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Loffler, who had spent several years in a heart valve clinic and cardiac electrophysiology clinic before practicing with UCHealth, knew that patients \u2014 no matter how intelligent \u2014 often struggle with the complexity of cardiac diagnosis and treatment options.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s hard about medicine these days is it has become so complex,\u201d Loffler explained. \u201cIt\u2019s routine for providers, but even for very educated patients, these things are foreign. Patients need to hear things three or four times for it to sink in and make sense; make it a personal understanding. That\u2019s why it\u2019s crucial to have these regular visits with your doctors and have these conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cafaro knew she was supposed to be following up with her cardiologist regularly, but she had put the visits on the back burner.<\/p>\n

\"Claire
Claire Cafaro stands with her son, Phil, before she underwent the TAVR procedure. The dark circles under her eyes are gone now that she’s addressed her severe aortic stenosis, and her energy is back. Photo courtesy of Claire Cafaro.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt was wishful thinking, but I thought it might go away. I just thought I\u2019m old, and this is how old people get,\u201d she said. \u201cI was ignoring that I had aortic stenosis \u2014 figured I\u2019d let nature takes its course.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nature had taken its course and in the two years since Cafaro\u2019s diagnosis, her stenosis had gotten considerably worse.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe wasn\u2019t feeling well in general,\u201d Loffler recalled. \u201cWhen we question patients, we have to question them a few different ways. She\u2019d say she was an active person \u2014 and she looked like an active person \u2014 but when I asked her if she was doing all the activities she liked doing, she said no because she wasn\u2019t feeling well enough to do them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d be taking a walk and I couldn\u2019t go that far, and it was a big effort,\u201d Cafaro explained. \u201cI had shortness of breath. All these things I was just attributing to old age but it wasn\u2019t that at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Signs and symptoms of severe aortic stenosis<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Many people with aortic stenosis don\u2019t experience noticeable symptoms until the blood flow becomes greatly reduced. At that time,\u00a0symptoms can include:<\/p>\n