Joined: 17 Mar 2004 Posts: 3 Location: San Antonio
Mitral Valve Replacement Patients Using the Ortho Evra Patch Posted: 03-17-04 03:29am
My stepdaughter had mitral valve
replacement surgery almost 3 years ago
when she was 14 years old. She opted to
have a tissue valve (pig aorta) instead of
the mechanical valve because it was easier
for her to adjust to in her lifestyle and
because she wouldn''t have to be placed on
blood thinner medication for the duration
of her life. Around about mid february of
this year, she went to a gynecologist to
acquire something for birth control, and
after discussing her past medical history
at length was prescribed the ortho evra
patch. After reading the insert in the
package, I could not understand why this
form of birth control would be prescribed
for her as it specifically warns that
patients who have had disease of heart
valves with complications should not use
the patch and that it has been known to
cause blood clots, heart attacks, and
strokes. Unfortunately, we went under the
assumption that the gynecologists knew
what she was doing and since we don''t
have the benefit of her expertise and
knowledge, we trusted that it would be
safe. They say hindsight is 20/20, and I
wish now I had gone with my initial
instinct and had my stepdaughter see
someone else. We could not ignore the
fact that she was sexually active, and
prompted her to get protection from a
doctor, which she did. Three weeks later,
she underwent surgery to have the valve
replaced again as it had developed a blood
clot on the valve which was blocking blood
flow in her heart. I called the ortho
mcneil medical information line to get
more information, but as there have been
no clinical studies done on patients who
have had this type of surgery and their
usage of this product, there was no
information they could provide other than
what was initially given in the
information packet provided with the
product. If anyone reading this can
provide any information regarding the
safety of this product in patients who
have had mitral valve replacement and
using this form of birth control, please
respond. We have not gotten the test
results back on the test being performed
on the valve yet, so we''re still not sure
if the patch was the cause of the clot,
although the cardiologist feels strongly
that this is the culprit, as there have
been no other changes in her lifestyle
recently. She now has a mechanical valve
and most likely will be released from the
hospital today. We thank god that she has
a wonderful surgeon that attacked this
problem agressively and didn''t try to cut
corners, as he initially thought the valve
was calcifying. He didn''t know there was
a clot until the surgery. If she had been
given blood thinner or even aspirin it
could have released the clot and she could
have had a stroke. We shudder to think of
what could have happened. Anyone who has
any information at all, please, please
respond. Thanks.
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Ablation1995
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 14 Jul 2005 Posts: 1 Location: Georgia
Birth Control Patch - Ablation Posted: 07-14-05 10:24am
Hey-
i just read your email about the bc patch
and was wondering if you found anything
out. I started the patch about 5 months
ago and have been experiencing a lot of
heart flutters. The only thing that has
changed is the patch. I am 28 years old
and had a heart ablation in 1995. I
have/had mvp, tachycardia, and
arythmia(sp). Did you figure anything
out? I hope all is well.
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Dnipper
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 17 Mar 2004 Posts: 3 Location: San Antonio
Posted: 07-16-05 15:12pm
It was determined that my stepdaughter
should have been placed on an aspirin
regimine prior to being put on the patch.
The combination of the patch and the lack
of proper instruction after the tissue
valve replacement was deemed to be what
had most likely resulted in the clot in
her valve. She underwent surgery to have
the tissue valve replaced with a
mechanical one and is currently on blood
thinner medication and regular blood tests
to make sure the medication is doing it's
job properly, and the dosage still has to
be adjusted according to the results of
the blood work. If and when she decides
to have a baby, she will have to undergo
another surgery to switch the valves yet
again (from the mechanical back to a
tissue valve) and recover still from that.
Tests were never performed on patients
with mitral valve replacement prior to it
being made available to the public, but
the tests that were done concluded that it
could cause blood clots and contribute to
heart attacks. You should most assuredly
consult your cardiologist about the
symptoms you are experiencing with your
heart while taking this form of birth
control. Johnson & johnson also
provides a toll free number in the
information sheet included in the
packaging to get answers on this product.
They will most likely tell you to contact
your doctor regarding your symptoms,
though. It would be the safest thing to
do. I wish you the best of luck and I
hope you will consult your cardiologist
asap.
