Heart Valve Surgery Patient & Author, Adam Pick
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“Can The Ross Procedure Help Bicuspid Aortic Valve Patients?” Asks James

Posted on June 17th, 2012 under Bicuspid Aortic Valve, Ross Procedure.

I just received a great email from James about the Ross Procedure and a diseased bicuspid aortic valve.

James writes, “Hi Adam – I’m 47 and recently told I need to replace my bicuspid aortic valve due to stenosis. Through your website, I’ve learned about the Ross Procedure as an option for me. It sounds interesting but I’m curious to know if the Ross Procedure can be used for my bicuspid aortic valve? Thanks, James”

The Ross Procedure & Bicuspid Valve
Ross Procedure Diagram & Bicuspid Aortic Valve Picture

Typically, for technical questions about heart valve repair and heart valve replacement operations, I contact our cardiac surgeon team for their opinions on patient questions. Luckily, for this question, I can provide James a direct response.

The answer to James’ question is…

Yes, the Ross Procedure operation can be used to treat patients who have a diseased bicuspid aortic valve. The reason I can confidently provide James a direct response is the fact that I had a Ross Procedure and I had a bicuspid aortic valve. So you know, my bicuspid aortic valve suffered from both stenosis (valve narrowing) and regurgitation (valve leaking).

Over the years, many patients from our community (Jeff, Melissa, Mark) have had successful experiences with the Ross Procedure.

Mellissa, Mark & Jeff - Ross Procedure Patients
Ross Procedure Patients – Melissa, Mark and Jeff

However, this is a very complex operation. You want to find a very, very, very experienced surgeon like Dr. Stelzer, Dr. Starnes, Dr. Gosta Pettersson or Dr. Trento if you believe this is the best surgical approach for you.

I hope this helped James (and perhaps you) learn more about the Ross Procedure and the treatment of a defective bicuspid aortic valve.

Keep on tickin!

About Adam Pick – Patient Advocate

A dad, a husband and a patient, Adam founded this website in 2006 to educate you about heart valve surgery from diagnosis to recovery. More...

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Laura says on April 23rd, 2013 at 6:09 pm

Ross procedure was recommended as a possibility for my son early on when his condition was diagnosed at birth. Bi-cuspid valve, aortic stenosis… severe at birth. A balloon dialation procedure done at Mayo opened the valve enough to keep him in a mild range during his early childhood years. But his valve has been described as “very ugly”, knobby, plus with his growth there is now a small amount of leakage. Where we will end up when replacement is necessary??? It is unpredictable! My child is at the age where is wants to begin to play football…. Mama’s not happy! To add to the complications, my son was diagnosed with Crohns two years ago. It makes things very complicated! No other cases of the two conditions are known according to our experts… so who advises us???
Just let him live a normal life so he feels like a normal kid as much as possible…. don’t hover! But during this growth spurt, level of understanding, we need to make choices that will best impact his life and health! HELP!