Adam’s Heart Valve Surgery Blog

As many of you know, this is a very exciting time for the heart valve surgery community given the rapid advance of medical technologies used to treat diseases including aortic stenosis and mitral regurgitation.

Last week, St. Jude Medical, one of the leading heart valve manufacturers, cleared a significant hurdle for the commercial release of its new Trifecta heart valve replacement. In case you missed it, St. Jude announced that its Trifecta valve received CE mark approval for the device within the European Union. (The device is still in clinical trials here in the United States.)

Trifecta Heart Valve (Source: Medgadget)

As we have discussed before, the Trifecta heart valve is a pericardial, stented tissue valve used to replace a patient’s diseased, damaged or malfunctioning aortic heart valve. According to the St. Jude, this next-generation tissue valve has a tri-leaflet stented pericardial design which offers excellent hemodynamic performance, or nearly unobstructed blood flow, which closely mimics the blood flow of a natural, healthy heart. The valve also features the Linx AC Technology, an anti-calcification treatment designed to reduce tissue mineralization (hardening).

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I just received a very, very, very educational and inspirational story from Kevin Haines about stroke, heart valve replacement, rehab, Coumadin and cardiac depression. That said, I thought you might enjoy it…

Greetings Adam:

I have written you in the past but wanted to give you a post-op update. My aortic valve was replaced in October 2008 with a St. Jude mechanical valve.  I also had a root repair completed during surgery. I was 38 years old when we discovered calcified aortic valve leaflets. So you know, a piece of calcium broke free and traveled to my brain causing a stroke.

Kevin Haines After Stroke and Aortic Valve Replacement

Since the stroke and surgery, I continue to make progress towards a healthy life.  I have come back from the  procedure very strong. I credit my recovery to my support group (especially my wife), my heart and stroke teams at Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and my rehab nurses who helped me through 26 cardiac rehab sessions. Your book, blog, and the readers comments have also been a huge help.

Calcified Aortic Heart Valve

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There is nothing better than waking up, enjoying a cup of coffee, turning on the computer and finding a patient success story in my inbox.

Today, I received a patient success story all the way from Portugal. It’s about Filomeno Faustino’s recent aortic valve replacement with a Carbomedics Top Hat mechanical device. Here is what Filomeno wrote to me:

Filomeno Faustino - Nine Days After Valve Surgery

Dear Adam,

Recently, my aortic valve was replaced because I had a bicuspid aortic valve caused by a genetic problem. I have attached a picture which shows me nine days after surgery.

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It is often said that heart surgery can be a physical and emotional rollercoaster for patients. There are ups… And, there are downs.

If anyone can testify to that realistic thought, it is Duane Hunt. As you might recall, I recently featured Duane’s story at our new online community, Heart Valve Journals, following his mitral valve repair.

Well, since that post… Duane has, unfortunately, been back-and-forth to the operating room for complications including blood clots, atrial fibrillation and excess fluid around the heart.

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