High CAC with bicuspid stenosis

Posted by vin @vin, Dec 7, 2019

Hi all
Nice to find a group like this.
My situation is this.
I am non smoking, non drinking 55 year old that is pretty fit and strong for my age, lifted a lot of weights and have a muscular build but carry about 10 kilos excess weight.
I suffer from ptsd and often have bouts of anxiety and sometimes panic attacks.
About a month ago I decided to take myself to the hospital because of a mild shortness of breath and everything seeming to be a little harder!
I did an ecg which was normal and I did an echocardiogram which showed I had a bicuspid valve with mild stenosis with an dilated ascending aorta of 48mm.
Cardiologist said that he would look at replacing the valves at 55mm which would hopefully be a number of years away, however because I failed the stress test because of skipped beats he ordered a ctca scan to check for cad.
Because my cardiologist is on holidays I got the report from my gp and was blown away!
I have a CAC score of 627, I have approximately 50-75% stenosis in my Lad, it stated that this could be an over estimation due to blooming artefact( not sure why the big gap in estimation when I read it’s so accurate. It states further in summary moderate diffuse disease elsewhere outlined.
Doctor was shocked and said I’ll fax this to the cardiologist, you will probably need a stent! Trouble is the cardiologist is on holidays for a month as am I.
If any helpful soul out there can shed some light on my situation I’d much appreciate it.
Thanks
Vince

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Justin McClanahan, Moderator | @JustinMcClanahan | Dec 8, 2019

Hello @vin, welcome to Connect. That is certainly a lot of information to take in during the holiday season while both you and your provider are away for vacations. I would like to tag @ch246cf10 to this discussion as they have talked about bicuspid stenosis as well. I'd also like to invite @estanley2008, @latrisha and @rory have all discussed dilated ascending aorta and may be able to share their experiences too.

In addition to the above conditions you talked about, here are a few other groups/discussions you may be interested in on Connect:

Depression & Anxiety > What is your anxiety like? > https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/what-is-your-anxiety-like/
Mental Health > Anyone else with PTSD? > https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/anyone-else-with-ptsd/

@vin, you mentioned the doctor was shocked, which can always make a patient like yourself more uneasy too. Did the doctor give any suggestions while you wait for your provider to return?

vin | @vin | Dec 8, 2019

In reply to @JustinMcClanahan "Hello @vin, welcome to Connect. That is certainly a lot of information to take in during..." + (show)

Hi Justin
Many thanks for the reply!
My doctor put me on 10mg of Crestor, my cholesterol is only slightly high but said I should get it down to optimum levels and exercise with more cardio and try to loose some weight.
I have always been very fit and strong with a muscular build, I was bench pressing 120 kilos a month ago and can do a 100 push ups!
So my heart condition is a big surprise for everyone, even my cardiologist did not expect any problems because I was as he put it so healthy looking and strong.
Thanks
Vince

Fighter | @niravani | Jan 1 10:09am

Hello Vince, I just joined this group. Do you have any update on your situation? My situation is same and I just got the same diagnosis.

Thanks

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