Patient Spotlight: Chris Dixon Heads To New York For Ross Procedure

After one of the most active spotlights in Heart Valve Journals’ history, Mitch Friedman has moved on to healthy, heart pumping pastures.

In his place, I’m thrilled to announce that Chris Dixon from Houston, Texas has taken the reins of our “Patient Spotlight”. Chris, who was born with a bicuspid aortic valve, was recently diagnosed with aortic stenosis and aortic regurgitation.

To replace his aortic valve, Chris has selected the Ross Procedure to be performed by the Dr. Paul Stelzer at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York.

If you didn’t know, the Ross Procedure (shown below) — also known as the Switch Procedure — is a unique form of aortic valve replacement in which the patient’s own pulmonary valve is used as the replacement valve. Chris could not have found a more experienced surgeon for this operation. As you may have seen, Dr. Stelzer recently performed his 500th Ross Procedure on Mark Kroto, a patient from our community.

I could ramble on-and-on about Chris and his experiences as he prepares for surgery — which is scheduled for next Monday. Instead, I’d encourage you to stop by his journal to learn more about Chris. You can also leave him an encouraging note at his “guestbook”.

Keep on tickin’ Chris!