Kaapo Hollweg
Registered User
- Jun 21, 2019
- 429
- 664
TL;DR: I believe Henrik has congenital aortic valve regurgitation, which has led to development of serious aortic valve dilation.
I am a medical student in my final year and I intend to specialize in cardiology after I graduate. So I am far from being an experienced expert, but I believe I do have some idea about what is going on.
Generally speaking, there are two types of aortic valve problems: aortic regurgitation and aortic stenosis, which is by far more common (in fact, it is the most common heart valve problem of all). However, aortic valve stenosis typically affects older patients who are 70+ years old. This is why the news about aortic valve surgery surprised me. (btw, stenosis usually leads to regurgitation and results in a combination of the two malfunctions, as someone has already pointed out in this thread, but the underlying cause is the stenosis)
Since Henrik has apparently known about his condition since he was a teenager, I bet this was a congenital malformation and not a typical aortic valve problem. Also, I believe the primary problem was regurgitation, because it often creates sort of a turbulent current of blood in the aortic root (the small section of aorta adjacent to the aortic valve). This can then lead to "bulging" of the aortic root, which can be a life threatening condition, as the "bulge" may rupture. And as we know directly from Henrik, the surgery is going to include the aortic root as well (it will likely be replaced by what is essentially a plastic tube).
There is another reason why severe aortic regurgitation is potentially dangerous. It may lead to dilation of the left ventricle of the heart and subsequently to chronic heart failure. Chronic heart failure is curable only by heart transplantation and when it is unavailable, death typically occurs within 5 years after diagnosis. Other methods, such as mechanical heart support or drugs, only prolong life and improve its quality.
That being said, the two main complications of aortic regurgitation that I mentioned, are mainly a long term threat. I guess that the dilation of aortic root has gotten a lot worse recently, now that surgery is imminent. However, I still think that Henrik's life is NOT in imminent danger right now. But there comes a time when it is not rational to wait any longer. Also, Henrik is not your typical heart surgery patient (who are very often obese diabetics) and as such, his risk of death after the surgery will likely be very mild.
As a side note, aortic valve regurgitation and aortic root dilation is a typical trait in monogenic heritable disorder called Marfan syndrome. Another typical trait is hypermobility of the joints. If Henrik happened to have a rather mild phenotype of Marfan syndrome, I can imagine a slight increase in joint mobility would come in handy to a goalie. But it is a rather wild theory as Henrik doesn't have a typical appearance of someone with Marfan (at least as far as I am concerned) and his would really need to be a very mild case to be able to become a professional athlete.
I am a medical student in my final year and I intend to specialize in cardiology after I graduate. So I am far from being an experienced expert, but I believe I do have some idea about what is going on.
Generally speaking, there are two types of aortic valve problems: aortic regurgitation and aortic stenosis, which is by far more common (in fact, it is the most common heart valve problem of all). However, aortic valve stenosis typically affects older patients who are 70+ years old. This is why the news about aortic valve surgery surprised me. (btw, stenosis usually leads to regurgitation and results in a combination of the two malfunctions, as someone has already pointed out in this thread, but the underlying cause is the stenosis)
Since Henrik has apparently known about his condition since he was a teenager, I bet this was a congenital malformation and not a typical aortic valve problem. Also, I believe the primary problem was regurgitation, because it often creates sort of a turbulent current of blood in the aortic root (the small section of aorta adjacent to the aortic valve). This can then lead to "bulging" of the aortic root, which can be a life threatening condition, as the "bulge" may rupture. And as we know directly from Henrik, the surgery is going to include the aortic root as well (it will likely be replaced by what is essentially a plastic tube).
There is another reason why severe aortic regurgitation is potentially dangerous. It may lead to dilation of the left ventricle of the heart and subsequently to chronic heart failure. Chronic heart failure is curable only by heart transplantation and when it is unavailable, death typically occurs within 5 years after diagnosis. Other methods, such as mechanical heart support or drugs, only prolong life and improve its quality.
That being said, the two main complications of aortic regurgitation that I mentioned, are mainly a long term threat. I guess that the dilation of aortic root has gotten a lot worse recently, now that surgery is imminent. However, I still think that Henrik's life is NOT in imminent danger right now. But there comes a time when it is not rational to wait any longer. Also, Henrik is not your typical heart surgery patient (who are very often obese diabetics) and as such, his risk of death after the surgery will likely be very mild.
As a side note, aortic valve regurgitation and aortic root dilation is a typical trait in monogenic heritable disorder called Marfan syndrome. Another typical trait is hypermobility of the joints. If Henrik happened to have a rather mild phenotype of Marfan syndrome, I can imagine a slight increase in joint mobility would come in handy to a goalie. But it is a rather wild theory as Henrik doesn't have a typical appearance of someone with Marfan (at least as far as I am concerned) and his would really need to be a very mild case to be able to become a professional athlete.