Heart Disease and Heart Attack Forum - Follow ups related to cardiomyopathy

Hi, my mum has had heart trouble all her life and has been getting worse lately.
She's 54 and has had a pacemaker to help her heart for about 3 years now, and they just found a stage2 leak in her heart valve.
She cant really move about much she gets short of breath and comes close to passing out just from standing and or walking, so i was just wandering what the recommended time between check ups should be and how close an eye the doctors should be keeping on her condition?

Replies(1)

Dr. Goce Aleksovski , MD

replied on February 16th, 2009

Heart Disease and Heart Attack Answer A5777

The exact diagnosis would have been helpful. If the diagnosis is cardiomyopathy, a follow up every 3 months is recommended to check if the heart function is worse. During the follow-ups the doctor would ask questions about symptoms that might indicate changes of the condition. A physical exam will be done, too. Depending on the actual condition the doctor might decide to use various other tests: laboratory tests, ECG or a heart ultrasonography. Exactly how long the time between the follow-ups should be might be decided only by the doctor that examines your mother based on her heart condition.

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