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Adam's Heart Valve Surgery Blog

Heart Valve Surgery Patient & Author, Adam Pick
Blogs About Heart Valve Replacement & Repair Surgery
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Search 10,000+ Pages of Heart Valve Information… Instantly!

May 23rd, 2013

Hey everybody,

During the past six years, the size of this website has grown from 10 to 100 to 1,000 to over 10,000 pages of heart valve information. Amazing, right?

However, as many of you have shared with me… Navigating to the right page, at the right time, can be difficult. For this reason, I asked my programming team to build a HUMONGOUS index of all the information at HeartValveSurgery.com. Several months later, I am very happy to announce that YOU can now search all of the content in that index using the search box located in the upper-right section of each page.

New Heart Valve Surgery Search Functionality

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Technology Update: Understanding TAVI with Dr. Michael Mack

May 19th, 2013

If you have not heard of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), this post will introduce you to a breakthrough technology that recently received FDA approval for ‘inoperable’ and ‘high risk’ patients with severe aortic stenosis. If you have already heard of TAVI, the video below will provide you the latest update about TAVI from Dr. Michael Mack, a heart valve guru, a past-president of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons, and one of the clinical pioneers of TAVI at The Heart Hospital in Dallas, Texas — where he practices.

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Joann Just Made My Day… My Year!

May 17th, 2013

I really appreciate hearing from the patients and caregivers in our community. Your emails and your phone calls are beyond heart warming (pun intended). That said, I just received an update from Joann Heindorf, a 78-year old patient from Florida, that was simply… extraordinary.

Joanne-Heindorf-Clearwater
Joann Heindorf – Heart Valve Surgery Patient

Joann’s update came in the form of an envelope that was mailed to my home.

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Understanding The Patient Perspective with Dr. Randolph Chitwood

May 8th, 2013

It’s a rare occurrence when I meet a world-renown cardiac surgeon who has also been a patient.

That said, when I recently connected with Dr. Randolph Chitwood, I wanted to learn more about his heart surgery experience and how it shaped his career as a surgeon. So you know, Dr. Chitwood is a heart valve guru having pioneered many techniques including robotic mitral valve repair surgery.

Thanks to Dr. Randolph Chitwood for sharing his experiences as a patient and a surgeon. Also, I want to thank Dr. Chitwood and the East Carolina Heart Institute for taking such great care of many patients from our community including Scott Newson, Lori Glew and Amy Machty.

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“Why Is Ankle Swelling A Symptom Of Mitral Regurgitation?” Asks Andrea

May 8th, 2013

I received a great question from Andrea about the symptoms of heart valve disease. In her note, Andrea writes to me, “Hi Adam, My 81-year old mom is experiencing symptoms due to mitral regurgitation. She is constantly short of breath and has ankle swelling. My question is… Why are her ankles swelling? Will that go away after surgery?”

Ankle Swelling Symptom Heart Valve Disease

To answer Andrea’s question, I contacted Dr. Adam Harmon, a cardiac surgeon from Sequoia Hospital in Northern California who has performed over 3,000 heart procedures and more than 400 valve operations. In his response to Andrea, Dr. Harmon explained:

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