Adam’s Heart Valve Surgery Blog

Since I first heard about the MitraClip several years ago, I have been fascinated by the evolution of this new, non-invasive technology used to treat mitral regurgitation without open heart surgery. (You might recall, Elizabeth Taylor underwent the MitraClip procedure last October.)

That said, I was excited to learn that Abbott Laboratories, the manufacturer of the MitraClip, just announced some encouraging safety findings from its clinical trials. In this very unique research, the MitraClip - which is delivered to the heart via a catheter through a blood vessel in the leg - was compared against traditional, open heart surgery for mitral regurgitation treatment.

The MitraClip By Abbot Laboratories

The primary safety goal of the study compared the number of adverse events (stroke, re-operation of mitral valve, urgent cardiovascular surgery, heart attack, kidney failure, major bleeding, and death) 30 days after the procedure.

The highlights of this research were:

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Some might find this video a bit too graphic. Others, like me, might find this educational video an incredible testament to the unique surgical skills needed to fix defective heart valves.

That said, I’ll let you decide what you think about this double heart valve replacement (also known as the Ross Procedure) video narrated by Dr. Paul Stelzer, of Mount Sinai Hospital, in New York.

If you didn’t know, the Ross Procedure is a unique, double valve surgery in which the patient’s own pulmonary valve (the autograft) is removed and then stitched into the aortic valve position. A homograft (human donor valve) is then used as the pulmonary valve replacement.

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Hi everybody,

I just received a note from the Patient Education Team at the Cleveland Clinic about a new, online tool for patients with mitral valve regurgitation. The tool is pretty neat for learning about mitral valve regurgitation, the severity of mitral regurgitation, echocardiogram results, ejection fractions, heart dilation and atrial fibrillation.

Ultimately, this new Mitral Regurgitation Tool uses a series of interactive questions to determine whether-or-not you are currently a candidate for surgery. The tool leverages the current guidelines of the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology in determining your situation.
If you would like to use the Mitral Regurgitation Tool, click here.

Keep on tickin!

P.S. To leave a comment, please click here.

About The Author: Adam Pick is a double, heart valve surgery patient and author of The Patient’s Guide To Heart Valve Surgery. This unique book integrates the clinical facts of heart valve surgery with the personal experiences of 135 former valve surgery patients to help patients and caregivers better understand the problems, the opportunities and the realities of heart valve surgery. To learn more about Adam and his heart valve surgery book, click here.

I just wanted to send my thoughts and prayers to Beverly Simmons of Fullerton, California, as she continues her early recovery at St. Jude’s hospital.

For those of you who have not visited Bev’s Heart Valve Journal yet, she had aortic valve replacement - using a pig (porcine) valve - on February 16, 2010. (Bev suffered from aortic stenosis.)

Beverly Simmons, 83, Heart Valve Replacement Patient

Although Bev, who celebrated her 83rd birthday in the hospital, recently received a “clean bill of health” from her doctors, the past few weeks have been filled with several ups and downs - including an emergency room visit days after her surgery.

That said, thanks to all of you who have posted over 275 comments in Bev’s Guestbook. I know she appreciates reading your words of encouragement and love.

To learn more about her unique story, please visit Bev’s Heart Valve Journal and her Guestbook.

Keep on tickin’ Bev!