Adam’s Heart Valve Surgery Blog

I just received a fascinating email from Andy Roe, an American living in Japan with his wife and five children.  In his email, Andy shared that his 11-month old son, Luca, was diagnosed with severe aortic stenosis. Like many parents, Andy researched the Ross Procedure, an advanced type of aortic valve replacement operation, that might help Luca.  However, Andy was surprised to learn that human donor valve replacements, which are an essential part of the Ross Procedure, are not available in Japan. Instead, Luca would get a custom Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) Valved Conduit.

Luca (11-Month Old Aortic Stenosis Patient)

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Great news! The video playback from the Happy Heart Festival about the lifetime management of congenital heart disease was just posted. So you know, I was very fortunate to moderate this educational session with a remarkable panel from the The Guerin Family Congenital Heart Program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center including Dr. Jay Pruetz (fetal cardiology), Dr. Melita Viegas (pediatric cardiac surgery), Dr. Stephen Nageotte (pediatric interventional cardiology), and Dr. Prashanth Venkatesh (adult congenital cardiology).

Listening to these experts share insights about how Cedars-Sinai supports patients from diagnosis through adulthood — across Guerin Children’s and the Smidt Heart Institute — was truly eye-opening. The conversation reinforced how rapidly congenital heart care is evolving and how coordinated, lifelong management is transforming outcomes for patients and families.

Related Links:

• Learn About The Guerin Family Congenital Heart Program at Cedars-Sinai
• Patient Webinar: Lifetime Management of Congenital Pulmonary Valve Disease
• Happy Heart Festival: A Day of Hope and Joy

Keep on tickin!
Adam

Great news! I am thrilled to share that Adventist Health St. Helena has become the newest sponsor of HeartValveSurgery.com!

 
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In case you missed it… The world’s first robotic TAVR explantation procedure was just performed by Dr. Vinay Badhwar at WVU Heart and Vascular Institute. Watch this video interview with Dr. Badhwar to discover how this groundbreaking innovation may redefine the approach to complex TAVR explants and aortic valve reoperations.

Many thanks to Dr. Vinay Badhwar and his team for educating our patient community about robotic TAVR explants!

Related Links:

• TAVR Explants and the Lifetime Management of Aortic Stenosis
• Hannah’s TAVR Explant: From Palliative Care to Life-Saving Miracle

Keep on tickin!
Adam

I am thrilled to share that Atlantic Health has become the newest sponsor of HeartValveSurgery.com!

 
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In case you missed it… Daniel Neeson, the 29-year-old son of actor Liam Neeson, just revealed that he underwent heart surgery to treat a congenital heart valve defect known as bicuspid aortic valve (BAV). As you may know, I was unexpectedly diagnosed with a bicuspid aortic valve which led to my Ross Procedure over 20 years ago.

Liam Neeson and Daniel Neeson After Surgery

 
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Today was different. Today was special. Today was something I had never experienced before. Thanks to the incredible teams at Camp del Corazon, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and Edwards Lifesciences, I had the honor of attending the Happy Heart Festival — a powerful celebration dedicated to children and families living with congenital heart disease. From the moment the event began, it was clear this was more than a gathering. It was a community coming together to celebrate strength, resilience, and possibility.

 
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The patient stories shared by the people in our community never cease to amaze me.  The unique experiences and personal hardships of patients that are openly shared with me are downright inspiring.  For example, I just received this update from Padma Iyer, a heart valve patient that didn’t just experience highs and lows during her journey.  Nope.  Padma and her family experienced an outright chaos which thankfully transformed into something wonderful.

Please note that Padma’s story below is not intended to cause fear for the patients and care partners in our community.  Instead, this post is a celebration of Padma, her courage, her will and her desire to help others.  Many thanks to Padma for sharing her story with us!

Padma Iyer (Heart Valve Surgery Patient)

 
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Right on the heels of National Heart Valve Disease Awareness Day, we have some important medical technology news to share… Artificial intelligence may soon help physicians detect one of the most overlooked cardiac conditions: heart valve disease.

As you may know, diagnosing heart valve disease can be challenging. People are often asymptomatic or their symptoms are subtle.  Unfortunately, as a result, many patients are not diagnosed until their disease has progressed to a severe stage that could cause permanent cardiac damage or death. While echocardiograms remains the gold standard for diagnosis, it is not practical as a universal screening tool, leaving routine stethoscope exams as the front line of detection — and a frequent point of missed opportunity.

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Over the past few months, I have been fortunate to support Ken and Ginny Grant from Virginia.  Ken is a mitral regurgitation patient who was recently told that his leaking valve had progressed from moderate to severe. Ken needed surgery. After researching his treatment options, Ken wanted a minimally-invasive mitral valve repair.  However, Ken struggled to find a local heart team to perform that unique operation.

As you can see and read below, I am happy to share that Ken just had a successful endoscopic mitral valve repair performed by Dr. Mario Castillo-Sang at St. Elizabeth Health in Northern Kentucky.

Dr. Castillo-Sang, Ginny and Ken Grant

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Our new Heart Valve Chatbot is helping patients all over the world.  If you didn’t know, we created this free educational tool using artificial intelligence. The interactive Heart Valve Chatbot, which can speak in 85 different languages, was built with the support of over 1,000 cardiologists, heart surgeons, medical teams and patients.  That said, I’m amazed at how the Heart Valve Chatbot is providing people instant answers to their questions about heart valve disease.

For example, I just received a very interesting question from B about the potential impact of Alpha Gal Syndrome on heart valve replacement selection.  B’s question was, “Hi Adam, I am due for an aortic valve replacement. I have been selected as a very good candidate for transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). I have also been diagnosed with Alpha Gal Syndrome with moderate to high levels. Since TAVR valves are made of materials including cow tissue and pig tissue, I have had mixed reviews on whether or not to have TAVR versus a mechanical valve replacement.  What is your take on this?  I have aortic stenosis.  My valve was abnormal from birth.  I was told a year ago that the aortic valve has gotten tight.”

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[Update: Great news! Earlier today, our patient webinar, “6 Expert Tips for Women with Aortic Stenosis, was fantastic!  To watch a playback of the video at YouTube, please click this link or watch the video below. You can also download our new eBook with the six tips for women with aortic stenosis.]

I’m excited to announce that our LIVE and FREE patient education events continue today, Thursday, February 5, 2026, with a special webinar, “6 Expert Tips for Women with Aortic Stenosis”. The featured speakers are world-renowned experts that specialize in women’s heart disease including Dr. Kathryn Berlacher, Dr. Zarina Sharalaya, and Marcus Burns, NP. The webinar will be hosted by Adam Pick, the patient who founded HeartValveSurgery.com in 2006.

Plus… A live “Questions & Answers” session will enable YOU to ask Dr. Berlacher, Dr. Sharalaya and Marcus your questions about women’s health and aortic stenosis during the webinar.

This is going to be great. I look forward to seeing you on the webinar!

Keep on tickin!
Adam

Seeing the support in our online community among heart valve disease patients is downright inspiring. In particular, I love when patients meet at our website and then connect in-person.

Kathy Blank and Candy Wilson

 
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[Update: Great news! Earlier today, our patient webinar, “Advances in Congenital Aortic Valve Disease Therapy”, was excellent!  To watch a playback of the video at YouTube, please click this link. Or, download the new free eBook here.]

What should patients and their parents know about the complex anatomy, symptoms and risks of a congenital aortic valve defect? How can new minimally-invasive techniques help patients throughout their lives?

Get answers to these important questions when Dr. Nimesh Desai, Co-Director, Aorta Center, and Dr. Allison Tsao, Interventional Cardiologist, at Penn Medicine Heart and Vascular Center, join me for a LIVE and FREE patient webinar, “Advances in Congenital Aortic Valve Disease Therapy”, this Thursday, January 22nd, at 6pm EST.

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Our post, “How To Avoid Bacterial Endocarditis Infections At The Dentist?”, got a significant response from our patient community. In particular, we received an interesting email from Dr. David Sarment, a board-certified periodontist and mitral valve surgery patient from Ann Arbor, Michigan.  As you can read below, David provided several important points about bacterial endocarditis, dental health, and gum disease that I wanted to share with you.

Dr. David Sarment (Heart Valve Patient & Periodontist)

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On December 21, 2005, my life transformed in a peculiar way. At the age of 33, I underwent heart valve surgery. Like so many patients, I was scared, uncertain, and searching for clear, trustworthy information leading up to my operation. Little did I know, this confusing experience would become an unexpected turning point in my life.

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It’s not every day that I get invited to attend a meeting of the world’s leading mitral valve surgeons.  So, when I received an invite to attend the AATS Mitral Conclave, I quickly booked a flight to New York City.

If you didn’t know, the AATS Mitral Conclave is an extraordinary conference that brings together over 800 physicians from around-the-world to discuss the best practices for mitral valve therapy.  In this video, Dr. David Adams, a program director of the AATS Mitral Conclave and the Cardiac Surgeon-in-Chief at Mount Sinai Health System, explains the importance of this meeting for mitral valve disease patients.

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[Update: Great news! Earlier today, our patient webinar, “Lifetime Management of Congenital Pulmonary Heart Valve Disease”, was excellent!  To watch a playback of the video at YouTube, please click this link.]

What should patients (and their parents) know about the complex anatomy of a congenital pulmonary valve defect? How can new innovations and minimally-invasive therapies help patients throughout their lives?

Get answers to these important questions when Dr. Rose Tompkins, Dr. Jay Pruetz, Dr. Melita Viegas and Dr. Stephen Nageotte from Cedars-Sinai join me for a LIVE and FREE patient webinar, “The Lifetime Management of Congenital Pulmonary Valve Disease”, this Thursday, December 11, at 6pm EST.

Over 300 patients have already registered for the webinar. Click here to sign up now.

The webinar will also have a live and interactive “Questions & Answers” session that will enable you to ask Dr. Rose Tompkins, Dr. Jay Pruetz, Dr. Melita Viegas and Dr. Stephen Nageotte your questions about heart valve surgery.

This is going to be great. I kook forward to seeing you on the webinar!

Keep on tickin!
Adam

Last week, we announced the launch of the HeartValveSurgery.com Charitable Giving Program.  Today, I am overjoyed to share that, thanks to the extraordinary support of our community, we just helped Prossy, a 15-year-old girl from Kitgum, Uganda, receive life-saving heart valve surgery at the Uganda Heart Institute in Mulago, Kampala!

Prossy at Uganda Heart Institute

 
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Dear Patients and Friends,

Over the past 19 years, the HeartValveSurgery.com community has grown in unexpected and incredible ways. What began in 2006 as a simple three-page website has expanded into more than 20,000 pages of educational resources and AI-powered tools that now support over 585,000 people across our social media platform.

Today marks an exciting milestone. Thanks to the generosity and dedication of this remarkable community, we are launching the HeartValveSurgery.com Charitable Giving Initiative — a new philanthropy focused on providing cardiac care to children living with heart valve disease. You can learn more about this new heart valve charity by clicking here.

To everyone who has supported us — and to all the children whose lives will be touched in the years ahead — thank you. Your compassion truly saves lives, and we are grateful to know you and work alongside you.

Related Link:

• HeartValveSurgery.com Charitable Giving Initiative

Keep on tickin!
Adam