My mom is at the point with her COPD that she has sever lung damage, we just found out she also has a leaky hear valve which she cannot have surgery for due to her lungs........how detrimental is this for her.  What are we looking at for life expectancy
Thanks for your question on Chat Doctor. I can understand your concern. COPD is chronic, progressive inflammatory disease of lungs. And in late stages, prognosis is not good. She is also having valvular defect (leak in valves), this makes prognosis even more worse. Life expectancy in this situation is less than 1 year. But with optimal treatment, life expectancy can be increased to 1.5 to 2 years. Optimal treatment includes 1. Long term low dose oxygen therapy for at least 15-16 hours a day. 2. Long acting inhaled bronchodilators and inhaled corticosteroid (ICS). 3. Pulmonary Rehabilitation in the form of deep breathing exercises and Chest physiotherapy. So consult pulmonologist and discuss these optimal treatment options. Hope I have solved your query. I will be happy to help you further. Wishing good health to your mother. Thanks.