Great news!!!

Ed Koch, the former mayor of New York City, is reported to be in stable condition following his aortic valve replacement surgery earlier today.

A spokesman says the 84-year-old mayor is doing “as well as expected” after a challenging open heart procedure at New York Presbyterian Hospital.

Ed Koch’s surgeon was Dr. Craig Smith, one of the leading heart surgeons on the East Coast. Doctor Craig Smith also performed a bypass procedure on former President Bill Clinton in 2004.

Dr. Craig Smith, M.D. – Koch’s Heart Surgeon

Ed Koch served as mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989. Koch told Mayor Michael Bloomberg earlier this week that he was doing fine and was looking forward to getting out of the hospital.

Keep on tickin!

P.S. Dr. Craig Smith has some very good patient reviews at HeartValveSurgeons.com.

I just received a question from Emily which reads, “Can a bicuspid aortic valve be repaired instead of replaced? I have severe stenosis in my aortic valve and I’ve heard repairs are better than replacements. Thanks!”

The answer to Emily’s question is yes… Bicuspid aortic valves can be repaired. In fact, I just located a great, educational video about bicuspid aortic valve repair. In this video, Dr. Lars Svensson, one of the leading aortic valve surgeons from The Cleveland Clinic, describes more about the surgical process for bicuspid aortic valve repair.

If you are interested, here is additional information about topics raised by Dr. Svensson during this video:

• More about bicuspid aortic valves – anatomy, symptoms, etc.
  
• Mini-sternotomy for aortic valve surgery
• Stopping the patient’s heart during heart surgery
• Calcified heart valves
• What are heart valve leaflets?

I hope that helps Emily (and perhaps you) better understand bicuspid aortic valve repair.

Keep on tickin!

The list of public figures needing heart valve surgery in 2009 continues to grow.

So far… Barbara Bush, Robin Williams, Aaron Boone, the Sultan of Malaysia and King Constantine of Greece have had valve repair or valve replacement surgery during the past six months. Now, I just learned that Ed Koch, the former mayor of New York City, is going to have heart valve replacement surgery due to aortic valve disease.

“Whatever God wants, God will have,” Koch, 84, told the New York Daily News Wednesday by phone from his room at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital, where he is set to undergo a heart valve replacement in the coming days. “If He wants me to hang around, I’ll hang around. If He wants to have some legal [or political] advice, He’ll take me,” Koch said.

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I just received a great question from Steve about heart flutters and palpitations following heart valve surgery. In fact, Steve’s question brought back a very distinct memory from my own heart surgery recovery.

Steve writes, “Hi Adam – I had my aortic valve replaced, with a pig valve, 7 weeks ago today.  During the past couple of weeks my heart is very fluttery and I feel like I have motion sickness.  It lasts for most of the day and is gone after a good nights rest.  Did you ever experience something like this? And, is this something I should worry about? I hate calling my doctor for something that is normal. Thanks, Steve”

I have a couple thoughts for Steve…

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I just opened an email from John about bovine valve replacement devices and re-operations. I provided some thoughts for John below but perhaps you can help him as well?

John writes, “Hi Adam – Because of a post-operative complication (possible suture failure creating a leak), it appears I will be facing a re-operation to replace my bovine aortic valve. How can I get some advice from other folks who have encountered this problem?”

Obviously, John raises a good question. So you know, I am aware of several patients that required re-operations for most types of valve replacement devices including cow valves, porcine valves and mechanical valves.

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