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Patient Q&A: How Fast Does A Heart Surgery Incision Heal?

Written By: Adam Pick, Patient Advocate, Author & Website Founder
Page Last Updated: July 10, 2025

I often receive the question, "How fast does a heart surgery incision heal?"

It's a great question. Unfortunately, I don't have a precise answer considering that (i) we all heal at different rates and (ii) many of us will have different incision types -- from a full sternotomy to a mini-sternotomy to a thoracotomy, etc.

Unicuspid Aortic Valve Patient - Cristen

Cristen Marzula - Heart Valve Surgery Patient

That said, Cristen Marzula, from Memphis, Tennessee, just posted an awesome picture in her heart valve journal about the rate at which her incision healed. In the picture below, you will see that Cristen compares her incision 3 days after surgery to a picture of her incision 5 weeks after surgery.

Picture of Heart Surgery Incision Healing

I don't know about you. But, I think Cristen's incision looks great -- and really, really small!!!

But wait... There's more to Cristen's story!

So you know, Cristen has a fantastic story to tell about her diseased aortic valve -- which turned out to be unicuspid (only one leaflet) instead of bicuspid.

As she writes, "It was during my surgery on December 18, 2014 that Dr. Eric Roselli at the Cleveland Clinic learned that my valve was actually unicuspid. Instead of an entire biological valve replacement, the incredibly skilled Dr. Roselli replaced the partially diseased leaflet with porcine tissue, ultimately creating a healthy bicuspid valve."

Cristen continues, "In essence, my stem cells could potentially grow to replace the porcine tissue, increasing the longevity of the valve and making it my very own - pretty phenomenal! A Dacron graft was used to replace the diseased tissue of the ascending aorta. I feel truly blessed for the surgical expertise of Dr. Roselli and his genuine compassion for his patients. Thank you Cleveland Clinic for EXCELLENT care!"

Dr. Eric Roselli (Cristen's Heart Surgeon)

Many thanks to Cristen for sharing her pictures and her story with our community. Also, great job to Dr. Roselli for helping Cristen!

Written by Adam Pick - Patient & Website Founder

Adam Pick is a heart valve patient and author of The Patient's Guide To Heart Valve Surgery. In 2006, Adam founded HeartValveSurgery.com to educate and empower patients. This award-winning website has helped over 10 million people fight heart valve disease. Adam has been featured by the American Heart Association and Medical News Today.

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