She underwent paravalvular leak closure and radiofrequency ablation in the cardiology department. Afterward, she developed a persistently sallow complexion. Six months later, she had valve replacement surgery and died postoperatively.
Death
Since the discharge summary from the patient's cardiology hospitalization was not obtained, only a somewhat speculative discussion can be made here. The cardiology department did not treat the 16-year history of valve implantation as an independent factor, but simply regarded the patient as a routine case of atrial fibrillation. If the 16-year valve implantation history had been included in the assessment, the cardiology department should have considered that aging of the artificial valves was the cause of the frequent atrial fibrillation. In that case, the patient should have been referred to cardiac surgery. At the very least, a multidisciplinary discussion should have been initiated rather than proceeding directly with paravalvular leak closure and radiofrequency ablation performed by cardiology.
If she had contacted this website before the procedure, she would have learned that the cause of her frequent atrial fibrillation was aging of the artificial valves implanted 16 years earlier and that she needed a second valve replacement. If she had gone directly for valve replacement, the chance of success would have been high. The paravalvular leak closure and radiofrequency ablation she underwent before the valve replacement objectively worsened the condition of the aging valves, increasing the difficulty of the redo valve replacement surgery. In other words, contacting this website was her only path to survival.