Mitral Regurgitation Forces Malaysian Sultan Into Heart Valve Repair Surgery
By Adam Pick on May 4, 2009
The Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, is in stable condition after a 10-hour open-heart surgery on Saturday at the Stanford University Medical Centre in Palo Alto, California.
The sultan’s private aide, Kelvin Ong, said in statement here today that Sultan Sharafuddin, 63, was now recovering in the Intensive Care Unit of the medical centre after undergoing repair of a leaking valve for “mitral regurgitation”.
He said mitral valve regurgitation (leaking heart valve) surgery was recommended when a person’s ejection fraction — a measurement of the heart’s efficiency — dropped below 60 per cent and/or the left ventricle was larger than 40mm at rest. The ejection fraction could be used to estimate the function of the left ventricle, which pumps blood to the rest of the body, he said.
The surgery team was led by Professor Dr. Craig Miller and Professor Dr Alan Yeung, and the doctors have advised a strict “no visitors” policy on the sultan. Sultan Sharafuddin had also been advised by the specialist doctors to rest and recuperate for three weeks at the hospital, Ong said. Doctor Miller recently performed aortic valve repair and root replacement surgery on major league baseball star, Aaron Boone.
Dr. Craig Miller – The Sultan’s Surgeon
Meanwhile, the sultan’s personal physician, Datuk Dr Anuar Masduki, who is also Sime Darby Medical Centre Subang Jaya specialist doctor, was given special permission to be in the operating theatre during the surgery. He said that before the operation, the sultan expressed his thanks to all Malaysians, especially Selangorians, for their kind thoughts and prayers.
Keep on tickin’ Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah!
Adam
Written by Adam Pick
- Patient & Website Founder
|
mercyturan says on May 5th, 2009 at 9:51 am |
|
Good luck and a good recovery,Sultan! This is a good reminder that no one is exempt and we really are all equal in the eyes of our God! For many years I worked in cardiac ICU and the other nurses knew my motto was: ” When sfficiently nauseated, all men will vomit”, as we all knew it mattered not what our patient’s financial or social status was and it was a reinforcement that all patients needed to be treated with the same respect and kindness wheather thy were an indigent patient or the mayor of the town. After all, save for report at the beginning of our shift, once we walked in the room we had no way of knowing about the “importance” of our patient, You see, they all wore the same plain gowns, were stripped of their jewelry and all had the same typical “I’m scared” look or worse. So, this was a wonderful lesson I learned early in my nursing life:”You are really not as important, everyone is just as important as you think you are!” and one that I try to pass along to my children and grandchildren. Many years after I left that ICU unit, I run into my old coworkers and they remind me that statement remained the tongue-in- cheek motto for the Unit. Adam, it is a pleasure reading about other’s recovery and seeing so many people well informed and recovering fairly well to magnificently well! God Blessed You! |
 |
|
Kelvin Ong says on May 5th, 2009 at 10:40 am |
|
Thank you for the “keep on ticking” message for HRH Sultan of Selangor ! |
|
|
chris says on May 6th, 2009 at 10:30 am |
|
I live in San Diego, but my heart is in Malaysia!!!!!! Cheers to the Sultan. I work in Malaysia and must say it is one of my favorite countries in the world. The people have treated me with so much respect and as a result I have many friends in Malaysia. (I work in Labuan and all over Borneo, with offices in KL) As for my message to the Sultan, I am now 5 weeks post op from the same surgery. I feel great and am ready to go back to work. The first 3 weeks are slow go, after that it improves so much every day. |
|
Adam's Newest Blogs
Adam's Newest Posts
Heart Hospital Map
Search for heart hospitals that specialize in heart valve treatment.
Surgeon Spotlight
Dr. Alfredo Trento is a heart valve expert having performed over 4,000 heart valve repair and replacement operations during his career.
