Blog Topics: Magdi Yacoub; Heart Surgeon; Cardiothoracic Surgeon; Ross Procedure Specialist

The more I learn and interact with the heart valve surgery community the more I hear about those surgeons which deserve and receive “top heart surgeon” or “best heart surgeon” labels.

That said, I have continued to hear the name of Magdi Yacoub over-and-over again. On one hand, the name Magdi Yacoub is not hard to forget. On the other hand, when you learn about all that Magdi Yacoub has accomplished it almost impossible to not mention his name along with the other heart surgeons we’ve been tracking.

Also, the fact that Magdi Yacoub is leading conferences on the perfection of the Ross Procedure, strikes my keen awareness to this surgical wizard. I say that because I had a Ross Procedure performed on myself in 2005. I’m so interested in the Ross Procedure, I was lucky enough to recently interview Dr. Donald Ross.

So, without further ado…. Here is some background information on Sir Magdi Yacoub. Yes… Magdi Yacoub has a real, official “Sir” in front of his name. I guess that puts him in another category right alongside Paul McCartney and Richard Branson.

Magdi Yacoub – Professional Accomplishments

Sir Magdi Yacoub has performed more transplants than any other surgeon in the world and, as a scientist, his interest in the basic mechanisms of heart structure and function in health and disease has improved transplant surgery and patient care. Magdi Yacoub retired from the NHS in September 2001, but continues to head his research programm at Harefield Hospital, which he sees as, “treating patients in the future.”

Magdi Yacoub’s work is all about helping people live longer and more fulfilling lives and describes “seeing people who are not well getting so much better” as the most satisfying part of his job. His strong sense of social responsibility led him to establish the Chain of Hope charity, which sends teams of medics to the developing world to treat children suffering from heart disease free of charge. With all the knowledge we have scientifically, we have a responsibility to help,” he says. Magdi Yacoub is personally involved in the charity’s missions and had just returned from Mozambique.

As well as treating children, the charity works to build up developing countries capacity to do operations and carry out research themselves. It helped to establish Maputo Heart Institute in Mozambique, which is training doctors and investigating how to treat EMS, a neglected heart disease. This disease affects up to 15% of children and young adults and leads to premature death. The charity also brings promising doctors from Mozambique to the UK for further training. Similarly 2 or 3 children from the developing world come to London for operations each month.

“The charity is called a Chain of Hope, because of the chain of people involved in the work we do – people donating money, people acting as host families for children and people donating their medical expertise,” Magdi Yacoub says.

What current areas of research are being investigated?

Magdi Yacoub and his team of 75 scientists are looking at new ways they can improve heart transplantation and repair damaged hearts. One emerging area is stem cell research. Stem cells are the master cells of the body and have the ability to develop into specific kinds of cells, such as heart cells. Magdi Yacoub hopes that they can be used to help the damaged heart regenerate itself and repair its own function. Currently, Yacoub is creating heart cells in the lab. Clinical trials will be needed before stem cells can be a part of everyday patient care, but nevertheless believes that the future for this technology, “could be near”.

Magdi Yacoub And Heart Valve Surgery

Magdi Yacoub is also researching techniques to improve the treatment of valvular heart disease. Valves guard the entrances and exits of the two pumping chambers of the heart and a disease or damaged valve can affect the flow of blood and put extra strain on the heart. Magdi Yacoub is exploring whether tissue engineering can be used to restore valve function.

Some work is also being carried out on xenotransplantation. However, Magdi Yacoub has reservations about this area. “There are still ethical problems about the risk of introducing new infections, which could be very dangerous to mankind,” he says. “There is a type of virus in the genome of the pig that could have a devastating impact if it crossed over to humans.”

Keep on tickin,

After I was diagnosed with severe stenosis and regurgitation in my bicuspid aortic valve, I was required to make a pretty significant decision.

Since the echocardiograms showed that my aortic valve was beyond heart valve repair, I needed heart valve replacement surgery. (FYI, I had two echocardiograms to confirm my heart valve condition. I highly, highly, highly encourage you do the same. Second opinions are critical.)

That said, I had to answer the question, “What type of heart valve replacement surgery should I have?”

The Ross Procedure – Special Aortic Valve Replacement

Read the rest of this entry »

I just received an email from Roger, a recent Ross Procedure patient and reader of my book. Roger raises some interesting points, so I thought I would include this as an email bag blog. Roger’s comments and questions are:

I am now 20 weeks post op and I just had my annual physical today with my family dr. BP 116/70, heart rate in the 70s, blood work good so that all seems reassuring. I am back to running about 3.5 miles at a 10 min pace. Per your suggestions, I have been monitoring my heart rate while running and trying to keep that in the 150 range.

It seems like I improve slowly but steadily. The doctor did say that I have a heart murmur which he said is perhaps normal after this type of surgery but he has never seen a Ross patient, so I was curious if you have a murmur or if you know whether that is a normal situation.

I remember one time you mentioned to me that you still listen to your heart so I figured you would know. Your feedback is appreciated as I am obviously still very paranoid that something is going to go wrong. I feel like I am about 85% back to “normal” feeling. How long does it take to feel completely recovered?

My Response To Roger…

Let me start with a virtual “high-five”! It must feel great to be running again. And, it seems, given your age and recent heart surgery, your system is definitely healing and responding to your desire to recover from your Ross Procedure operation.

From prior emails, I know you can go into the “Something Is Wrong Here!” mode, right? But, let me assure… If something was wrong, I highly doubt your cardiologist or surgeon would encourage you to walk 3.5 miles, let alone, run 3.5 miles.

That said, I know what it is like to be paranoid by the “What’s Wrong Here?” mentality that dominates patient’s brains during the recovery. FYI, it’s been 21 months since my Ross Procedure and I still sometimes think “something is wrong” with my heart.

As for the heart murmur you mention above, I too had a tiny murmur following my aortic and pulmonary valve replacements.

From what my cardiologist told me, that is common. If I remember right, Dr. Rosin told me that the tiny murmur may be caused by sutures around the new heart valve. Interesting though. My murmur has since gone away. Maybe that will happen to you as well.

Regarding your final question, “How long does it take to fully recover from open heart surgery?”

That is a toughie. I would encourage you to go back and re-read the beginning of Part IV of my book. The process of healing is very personal. In a recent survey I just completed, some patients feel fully recovered after eight weeks. Some patients feel fully recovered after sixteen weeks.

Me? I didn’t feel fully recovered until I entered the Pacific Ocean with my surfboard. That was 435 days after surgery!!! For me, that was the moment that I considered my recovery complete! If you would like to read about that moment, I memorialized it in this blog about surfing after heart valve surgery.

One more point, I felt even more recovered when I Scuba dived during my honeymoon in Fiji a few weeks ago.

That said, you may want to create some form of milestone to help you during this process. If you were to complete one physical activity that would signify your recovery completion, what would it be????

Let me know. I would love to support and encourage you.

Keep on tickin!

Every so often I receive an email that really makes me remember my heart valve surgery experience, especially the recovery.

Some of those memories are joyful. And, some of those are…. well… not so joyful.

This blog is in response to an email that reads, “How sore are your chest muscles after heart surgery?”

Hmmmmm. To answer that question, I have to let you know that there are many different types of heart surgery – some procedures require the sternum to be split and some heart surgeries are noninvasive that do not require “chest cracking”.

Read the rest of this entry »

One of the many things I love about life is food.

In fact, right now I’m waiting for my new bride, Robyn, to get home from work so we can go out for dinner and officially start the weekend. But, as of this moment… SHE’S LATE AND I’M STARVING!!!

I guess that brings up a pretty interesting topic… Foods For People That Had Open Heart Surgery!!!

My gut tells me you might want to know if your food consumption will change following cardiac surgery including open heart valve repair or open heart valve replacement.

“Am I right?” (If no, skip this blog.)

Oh, good. You’re still reading. That must mean you’re somewhat interested to know whether or not there are any special foods for patients that had open heart surgery.

So you know, I had aortic valve replacement in 2005. One of the reasons I chose this surgical option (known as the Ross Procedure) was because I did not want to take any medication (Coumadin) after my heart valve surgery to prevent clotting on a mechanical valve.

In light of that my surgical procedure, I do not have any food restrictions that may arise from the simultaneous intake of medicine (again Warfarin / Coumadin).

That’s Me Eating During My
Honeymoon In Fiji

That brings up the next question, “Do patients on Coumadin need to avoid certain foods that might negatively react with Coumadin?”

I did some online research and found some interesting information from Healthcare South. Here it is:

• Many medications and foods interact with warfarin, possibly causing problems. Some interactions raise the INR too high, which may cause bleeding. Often, interactions decrease the INR too low, rendering the medication ineffective.

• In the past, people were advised to avoid foods with vitamin K because vitamin K reduces warfarin’s efficacy and lowers the INR. These days, I recommend regular, moderate consumption of these healthy vegetables, but keep it fairly consistent so that your doctor can adjust your warfarin dosage to match your diet. If your diet varies quite a bit, your INR levels can swing very high or low.

• Foods rich in vitamin K include: asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, spinach, brussel sprouts, chick peas/garbanzo beans (hummus), soybeans (tofu, soymilk), lentils (dried peas and beans), dark green, leafy vegetables, green lettuce (romaine, bib and red leaf), collard, mustard, turnip and beets, green tea (tea in Chinese restaurants), parsley (tabbouleh).

• Foods with excessive vitamin K to avoid include: large amounts of onions (greater than ¼ cup), avocado (guacamole), egg yolks (not more than four per week), liver, seaweed (sushi or algae).

Considering this information, it appears that there are some clinically referenced, dietary restrictions on patients using Coumadin following heart surgery. In fact, I have learned that there are cookbooks written to help patients with recipes and foods for people that had open heart surgery. For example, The Coumadin Cookbook: A Guide To Healthy Meals When Taking Coumadin, is now available through online stores like Amazon. Here’s a link if you would like to read up on it.

• Coumadin Cookbooks At Amazon

Alright. Now, I’m really, really hungry! Robyn just got home! I’m off for some Thai food!!!

I hope that helps you better understand foods for people that had open heart surgery, especially those that take Coumadin.

Keep on tickin!