I just received an email from Sharon that rekindled a memory. Sharon writes, “Hi Adam – I was recently diagnosed with severe aortic stenosis and I need an aortic valve replacement. Even though I’m 62 and in relatively good shape, I’m worried about making it through. Do you know what the mortality rates and surgery risks are for aortic valve replacement? Thanks, Sharon”
I can relate to Sharon… I distinctly remember wondering this exact same question just seconds after I was told that I needed an aortic valve replacement. Although I was too nervous — in that moment — to ask my cardiologist about surgical risks and mortality rates, I would later research this topic prior to surgery.
As I write this, I am flying home to Los Angeles after attending the 2011 Heart Valve Summit. The meeting was beyond exciting as over 500 cardiologists, surgeons, anesthesiologists, physician assistants and nurses congregated in Chicago to discuss the treatment of heart valve disease — including heart valve repair and heart valve replacement surgery.
Over the next few weeks, I will be posting several educational videos filmed at the Heart Valve Summit. However, I thought you might like to learn more about this special event. That said, I asked Dr. David Adams, the Program Director of the Heart Valve Summit, to describe the significance of this meeting for the patients and the caregivers of our community.
Thanks to Dr. David Adams, the 500+ attendees, the American College of Cardiology and the American Association of Thoracic Surgeons for working together to extend and enhance our lives!
I also want to thank the medical device manufacturers who exhibited at the Heart Valve Summit. It was very neat to see, touch and learn about the technologies provided by Medtronic, St. Jude Medical, Cryolife, Sorin, Philips Healthcare, LSI Solutions and Edwards.
Personally, I was fascinated by the new CoreValve device, which is designed to replace the aortic valve without an incision to the patient’s sternum or ribs.
I was also quite amazed by the Philips 3D Transesophageal Echocardiogram (3D TEE) which enables surgeons and their medical teams to see images of the heart — including our valves — in three dimensions, in real-time, during cardiac procedures.
I just spent some time at Heart Valve Journals, our social network that connects patients, friends and family members. While there, I noticed that Bill, Sherry and Terri were scheduled for surgery during the next 24 hours.
If you would like to learn more about their stories, you can visit their Heart Valve Journals by clicking the links below:
I just received an interesting question from Joanie. She writes, “Hi Adam – My husband had mitral valve repair surgery three days ago. I noticed that he’s gained 8 pounds since the surgery. The doctors say the gain is due to fluid intake. Is this common? What fluids did they use? How long until he loses the fluid? Thanks, Joanie.”
While I had my thoughts on the topic, I wanted to provide Joanie an expert opinion. That said, I contacted Dr. Larry Cohn, who practices at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston. During his 40-year career, Dr. Cohn has performed over 10,000 cardiac procedures.
As heart valve surgery is a very serious and very complex operation, I encourage all patients to interview and research their potential surgeons. Even with the known risks of heart valve surgery, you want to be 100% confident in your surgeon as you are being rolled into the operating room.
One of the key criteria for surgeon selection is experience. Specific to this point, I just learned a very interesting fact about the average yearly number of mitral valve repair surgeries performed by cardiac surgeons.
