Adam’s Heart Valve Surgery Blog

Over the years, I have interacted with many patients that suffer from atrial fibrillation and heart valve diseases including aortic stenosis and mitral regurgitation. To learn more about atrial fibrillation and heart valve disease, I contacted Dr. Niv Ad, the Chief of Cardiac Surgery at Inova Health Systems in Falls Church, Virginia. Here are the highlights from our very interesting discussion:

Dr. Niv Ad- Chief of Cardiac Surgery
Inova Health Systems, Falls Church, Virginia

Adam:  Thanks so much for taking time to speak with me today. I’d like to ask you a couple questions about atrial fibrillation and heart valve disorders.

Dr. Niv Ad:  Thanks Adam for raising awareness to this very important topic.

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Life is fantastic mixture of good days, tough days, great days and, sometimes, bad days. However, every once in a while, we are fortunate to experience… extraordinary days.

Recently, in Greeneville, North Carolina, I had one of those rare, extraordinary days.

“What the heck happened to Adam?” you might be wondering.

Well… I was very fortunate (and very lucky) to spend the day touring the East Carolina Heart Institute with Dr. Randolph Chitwood.

Dr. W. Randolph Chitwood - East Carolina Heart Institute

While Dr. Chitwood is internationally recognized as a leading heart surgeon and pioneer of the robotic mitral valve repair, I quickly learned that Dr. Chitwood’s appreciation of life is equally important. Doctor Chitwood has been married for 40+ years to Tamara Chitwood. Together, they have two children, Anne and Randolph, and a grandson, Keller.

“Hey there Adam! So glad you could make it!” Dr. Chitwood said to me as he handed Kristin Bolton, his executive assistant, a newly framed photo. “Listen, we have a lot lined up for you today. But, how about we start with a tour of the gallery?”

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Last Wednesday, our patient and caregiver community was fortunate to participate in an exclusive, online chat with Dr. Marc Gillinov, one of the leading heart valve surgeons from The Cleveland Clinic.

As this was our first, interactive chat with The Cleveland Clinic, I was curious (and a bit nervous) to receive feedback from their team following the event.

Well, I have some great news to report…

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In connection with the launch of our Heart Valve Surgeon Database, we are going to feature one special heart valve surgeon each month.

In the past, we have featured Dr. Starnes, Dr. Adams and Dr. Roselli. With February coming up, you have an opportunity to nominate your surgeon as the “Heart Valve Surgeon Of The Month”.

To nominate your surgeon, (i) please write a paragraph about what makes your surgeon so special and (ii) send the paragraph to me as a comment to this blog or email me at adam@heart-valve-surgery.com.

The “Heart Valve Surgeon Of The Month” will be announced in a few days, so please do this as soon as possible.

In advance, thanks for celebrating your surgeon!

Keep on tickin!

P.S. To nominate your surgeon, please click here.