Adam's Heart Valve Surgery Blog

Following our last post about watchful waiting for patients with moderate heart valve disease, I received several emails from asymptomatic patients. While each email was unique, most patients were curious to know if patients without symptoms should undergo heart valve repair and heart valve replacement procedures — for conditions including aortic stenosis and mitral regurgitation.

Luckily, during my recent tour of the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, I was fortunate to discuss this topic with Dr. Richard Lee, an associate professor of cardiac surgery. The video below contains the highlights of our discussion. (For the hearing impaired members of our community, I have provided a written transcript of this video below.)

Thanks to Dr. Richard Lee for taking the time to share his clinical expertise with our community. To learn more about Dr. Lee, please click here.

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I just had a very interesting conversation with Paul about the progression of aortic stenosis and the timing of heart valve replacement surgery.

During our chat, Paul asked, “Adam – I am 71 and have been diagnosed with aortic stenosis for over 10 years now. Recently, the disease progressed from mild to moderate. My cardiologist does not believe surgery is needed yet. I don’t want the stenosis to become ‘severe’ knowing the damage it can cause. Why am I being told to wait for surgery? Thanks, Paul”

Paul asked a great question. That said, I wanted to provide Paul a great answer.

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I’m amazed by how fast Heart Valve Journals, our social network for patients and caregivers, continues to grow. I’m also very touched by the stories shared within this caring community.

As you may have seen, we always select one patient to be our “Featured Patient” within the community. That said, I would like to introduce you to Mitch Friedman, our current “Featured Patient”.

I could tell you all about Mitch and his upcoming heart valve surgery planned for February 2, 2012 . Instead, I’ll simply encourage you to click this link to learn about Mitch’s pursuit of a healthy heart.

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After I was diagnosed with severe aortic stenosis and regurgitation, I chose the Ross Procedure for my heart valve replacement surgery. While this approach to aortic valve replacement is more complex, I found the benefits of this procedure outweighed the risks.

Since launching this website, I have become familiar with a handful of surgeons who are considered Ross Procedure gurus. In particular, Dr. Paul Stelzer, from Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, is widely regarded as one of the most experienced Ross Procedure surgeons in the United States.

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During my research for my book and this website, I have been fortunate to meet several incredible surgeons. Dr. Marc Gillinov is one such surgeon.

I first heard the name “Dr. Marc Gillinov” from his former patients. One after the other, my inbox filled up with glowing testimonials for Dr. Gillinov. His patients used words like friendly, excellent, caring and outstanding to describe the Judith Dion Pyle Chair in Heart Valve Research at The Cleveland Clinic.

Above, you can see a picture of Dr. Gillinov and several patients from our community — Anita, Patrick, Bill, Jeffrey, Don, Sandy, Fran, and Sam — who chose Dr. Gillinov as their surgeon. (To read 25+ patient recommendations for Dr. Gillinov, click here.)

Over the years, I have been fortunate to learn much more about this extraordinary man who practices at The Cleveland Clinic.  So you know, Dr. Gillinov has performed over 4,300 cardiac procedures. Of those, more than 2,600 have included valvular repair or replacement. In addition, Dr. Gillinov is widely respected for his research, his 200+ publications, his inventions and his humble ways.

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