Monique just sent me two, very interesting pictures of her mitral valve – before and after surgery. I thought you might like to see these pictures as they illustrate the challenges of heart valve disease and the opportunities of heart valve treatment. The procedure was performed by Dr. David Adams at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.

Monique At Mount Sinai Hospital Using The Incentive Spirometer

As Monique writes to me, “The pictures below are amazing!”

I completely agree.

Monique’s Mitral Valve – Before & After Surgery (Source: MitralValveRepair.org)

After looking at these mitral valve pictures, which were taken during the operation, I immediately noticed three things.

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I just received an interesting question from Tanya about calcified heart valve leaflets.

Tanya writes, “Dear Adam – I am hoping you can help me better understand my diagnosis of mitral stenosis. The doctor mentioned that I am moderate-to-severe and could be facing surgery soon. The cardiologist also said that my valve may be calcified. I’m curious…. Do you have any pictures of a calcified valve? Thanks! Tanya”

Calcified Mitral Valve

Like Tanya, I also wanted to know what a calcified heart valve looked like when I was diagnosed with aortic stenosis – prior to my heart valve replacement surgery.

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Ted just sent me a very appropriate question about mitral valve stenosis.

He writes, “Adam – I’ll be going in for mitral valve surgery due to stenosis next month. I’m doing my best to cope with the reality of open heart surgery. Quick question… Do you know what mitral valve stenosis looks like? Thanks for everything, Ted”

Mitral Valve Stenosis – Calcified Leaflets

As you may know, mitral stenosis is the narrowing of the opening of the heart’s mitral valve. Shown above, thickened valve leaflets do not open-and-close properly and causes interference with blood flow.

This picture comes from a 72-year old male who was experiencing symptoms (breathlessness) due to mitral stenosis, according to Dr. Jeremy Jones. The patient required mitral valve replacement.

Although Ted did not explicitly ask for it, many patients are also curious to see the steps by which a mitral valve is replaced. Thanks to The Brazilian Journal of Cardiology, the picture below illustrates the steps by which a severely calcified mitral valve is replaced with a bovine bioprosthesis (also known as a cow valve replacement). The 52-year old female patient was released from the hospital six days after surgery.

I hope this helps Ted (and perhaps you) learn a little more about mitral stenosis and the process to remove and replace a diseased heart valve.

As they say… A picture is worth a thousand words, right?

Keep on tickin!

Joseph Minnucci has really taken advantage of our new Heart Valve Journals tool to communicate with his support group and fellow patients. That said, you may already be aware that Joe had heart valve replacement surgery on February 8, 2010.

Joseph Minnucci – Heart Valve Replacement Patient

After reading through Joe’s journals, I clicked on his photos section. Amongst all the interesting and fun pictures, I found an x-ray which actually shows Joe’s new, aortic tissue valve. I thought you might want to see this amazing photo, so I inserted the picture below.

To help you locate the new valve, I included a red arrow that points directly to Joe’s new, 27 mm sized tissue valve.

X-ray Of Joe’s Aortic Valve Replacement (Tissue)

Pretty neat x-ray, right?

So you know, if you look real close… On the left side of the x-ray, you can see a few sternal wires as well.

Thanks to Joe for sharing this incredible x-ray with us!

Keep on tickin’!

I just read in her Heart Valve Journal that Penny McIntosh has seen her recovery get “back on track” after a few post-operative complications including atrial fibrillation and fluid in her lungs. As you may know, Penny had mitral and tricuspid valve repairs and a MAZE procedure performed on February 26, 2010.

Penny McIntosh – Double Heart Valve Repair Patient

Although her experience has been self-described as a “roller coaster”, Penny’s positive attitude is quickly detected in her recent journal entries:

• “Last Saturday my heart went back to regular rhythm and has stayed except for a brief flip back to atrial fibrillation yesterday.”
• “I had a minor set back with a bout of pleurisy this week but the antibiotics have sorted that out quickly and my breathing is a lot easier today.”
• “I did get the all clear to drive from my GP this week but no inclination to go anywhere just yet and with a new SUV I need time to get used to it.”

Penny also took the time to show us what her scar looks like five weeks after surgery.

Penny’s Sternotomy Scar (5-weeks After Surgery)

Like many patients, including me, Penny also experienced some weight loss after surgery. She notes, “My weight has dropped down more than 8 kilograms in 5 weeks but I’m still on fairly high doses of diuretics.”

If you would like to read more about Penny’s heart valve surgery, simply visit Penny’s Heart Valve Journal. Or, if you would like to start your own free Heart Valve Journal, please click here.

Keep on tickin’ Penny!