Adam's Heart Valve Surgery Blog – Page 24

In case you missed it… The Trifecta Valve with Glide Technology (Trifecta GT) just received a U.S. Food & Drug Administration approval. This is really great news for patients given the unique advantages of this aortic valve replacement.

To learn more, I contacted Dr. Douglas Johnston. So you know, about 70% of Dr. Johnston’s cases includes valve therapy and Dr. Johnston has already implanted many Trifecta GT valves. In addition, Dr. Johnston has successfully treated several patients in our community including Sonny Abassi and Sandra Shaw. 🙂

Dr. Douglas Johnston

 
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I am very excited to announce that WVU Medicine just launched a Heart Valve Microsite at HeartValveSurgery.com!

WVU Medicine, which is located in Morgantown, West Virginia, is really taking on heart disease. WVU Medicine just recruited world renown heart valve specialist, Dr. Vinay Badhwar, to lead the cardiac center.  And… The WVU Heart and Vascular Institute will be headquartered in a new $200 million, 10-story tower on WVU Medicine’s main campus which is scheduled to open in January 2017. The WVU Heart and Vascular Institute will additionally be home to WVU Medicine’s statewide efforts in cardiovascular quality and research, clinical education, outreach, and statewide program development. See the new WVU Valve Microsite.

Reflecting on his new role at the WVU Medicine, Dr. Badhwar stated:

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I am so sorry that we ran out of paperback copies of my book, The Patient’s Guide To Heart Valve Surgery, last month. I know many of you were disappointed by the sell-out.

I want to try and make it up to you. So, for the next 7 days, we are going to offer everybody a 35% discount on both the paperback and eBook copies my book. Fyi, this is the first time since publishing the book in 2006 that we have discounted the price.

Again, I’m so very sorry about this.

• Get my book with an instant 35% discount.

Keep on tickin!
Adam

A common question I receive from patients who can not have their valves repaired is, “What are my valve heart replacement options?”

For this reason… I jumped at the chance to film an educational video about this topic with Dr. Alfredo Trento, the Director of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. So you know, Dr. Trento is a valve guru having successfully performed over 4,000 heart valve operations and treated many patients from our community including Robin Hirsch, Jerry Andis and Angie Brooks. 🙂

Here are the highlights from my discussion with Dr. Trento…

As many patients, including me, will tell you… The process of selecting a heart valve replacement can be challenging. I always encourage patients and their family members to create a “Pros and Cons” list for each valve given the patient’s lifestyle, age and activity level. As one doctor confided in me, “At this time, there really is not a perfect valve replacement for all patients types. There are, however, many options that have been developed to fit each patient population.”

Patient Success Story Videos with Mechanical, Tissue & TAVR Valves

For this reason, I these and other reasons, I thought you might like to see patient success stories I filmed with patients that selected different types of valve including a mechanical valve, a tissue valve and a TAVR.

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A great question from Sue came in regarding genetics and heart valve disease. She asked me, “Adam – Is heart valve disease genetic or is there a tendency to develop valvular disease in the later years of life?”

To answer Sue’s question, I was very lucky to interview Dr. Patrick McCarthy, the chief of cardiac surgery and executive director of the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute at Northwestern Medicine. If you didn’t know, Dr. McCarthy is a valve specialist having performed over 4,000 heart valve procedures. At our community, Dr. McCarthy has successfully treated many patients as you can see by the 60 patient testimonials posted here.

I hope that helped Sue (and perhaps you) learn more about the genetics associated with heart valve disease. Many thanks to Sue for her question and a special thanks to Dr. Patrick McCarthy for sharing his clinical experiences and research with our community.

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Valerie sent me a GREAT question about transcatheter aortic valve replacements (TAVR), bicuspid aortic valves and aortic aneurysms. Valerie asked, “Hi Adam – I have a bicuspid aortic valve and aneurysm.  Is there any work being done using the TAVR method to also fix an aneurysm too? Or, does an aneurysm negate use of TAVR for valve surgery?”

To educate Valerie (and our entire community) about this very important topic, I contacted Dr. Michael Mack. So you know, Dr. Mack is Chairman of The Heart Hospital Baylor Plano, the Medical Director of Cardiovascular Surgery at the Baylor Health Care System and a former President of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Specific to TAVR, Dr. Mack was very involved in the PARTNER clinical trials which led to the first FDA approval of the Edwards SAPIEN valve in 2011.

Dr. Michael Mack – Heart Surgeon

Needless to say, Dr. Mack is a valve and TAVR guru. He’s also a super nice guy who has helped many patients from our community. 🙂

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How would you react if you learned that your unborn child was suffering from a life-threatening disease known as hypoplastic left heart syndrome? What would you do? Who would you turn to?

This is the story of Leilani, Kayla and Jesse…

Many, many, many thanks to Leilani, Kayla and Jesse for sharing their courageous and inspirational story with us. And, an extraordinary thanks goes out to Dr. Evan Zahn and all the team members at the Guerin Family Congenital Heart Program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

• Learn more about Dr. Zahn
• Discover the Guerin Family Congenital Heart Program

Keep on tickin’ Leilani!
Adam

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The pictures show Fran’s transformation…

Fran’s words amplify his inspirational journey… He wrote to me:

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I just received a great question from Lisa about ventricular tachycardia and heart valve surgery. Lisa asked me, “I was born with tetralogy of fallot and had two heart surgeries before the age of 6. I just had my 3rd surgery at 46 to put in a pulmonary valve. Now, 3 years later, I’m being sent to a specialist to talk about ventricular tachycardia. Is this common with patients like me?”

If you didn’t know… Ventricular tachycardia (or V-tach) is a fast heart rhythm that starts in the lower part of the heart (ventricles). If left untreated, some forms of V-tach may get worse and lead to ventricular fibrillation, which can be life-threatening.

That said, I wanted to get Lisa an expert opinion on this very important question. So, I reached out to Dr. Joseph Rowe, a cardiac surgeon at Carilion Clinic in Roanoke, Virginia who has been in practice for over 15 years. So you know, Dr. Rowe has also successfully treated many members from our community including Bobby Broughman and Michael Sitka. 🙂

In response to Lisa’s question, Dr. Rowe first addressed the congenital nature of Lisa’s valvular defect:

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If you didn’t know… Many patients with heart valve disease have atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat. According to reports, up to 35% of patients with valvular defects are more likely to have AFib. For this reason, I really appreciated Anita’s question, “Adam – Can anyone having heart valve surgery be a candidate for corrective atrial fibrillation treatment?”

To answer this very important question, I tracked down Dr. Steve Bolling, a leading heart valve surgeon at the University of Michigan.  So you know, Dr. Bolling has successfully treated many patients in our community including Linda Comai, Jeff Adams and George Parish. 🙂

Here’s what Dr. Bolling shared with me.

Many thanks to Anita for her question. And, a special thanks to Dr. Steve Bolling for sharing his clinical expertise and research with our patient community.

• See Dr. Bolling’s Interactive Surgeon Profile
• Discover the Atrial Fibrillation & Heart Valve Patient Education Center

Keep on tickin!
Adam

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I recently received a great question from Lori about pacemakers and heart valve surgery. Lori posted at our Facebook page, “Adam, what percentage of patients need pacemakers after valve surgery?”

It’s a great question. And, I wanted to get Lori a great answer. So, at the Heart Valve Summit, I tracked down Dr. Patrick McCarthy, who is Chief of Cardiac Surgery at Northwestern Medicine and the Executive Director at the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute. If you didn’t know, Dr. McCarthy is heart valve guru who has treated over 100 patients in our community including John DiFazio, Ed Miscovic and Janet Ruddock. 🙂

Here’s Dr. McCarthy’s response to Lori’s question.

Many thanks Lori for her question. I would also like to extend a mighty thanks to Dr. Patrick McCarthy and the entire Northwestern team for their support of our patients, their families and friends.

• See 125+ patient testimonials for Dr. McCarthy
• Visit the Northwestern Heart Valve Microsite

Keep on tickin!
Adam

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Eileen Chen, who is a member of our Facebook community, recently asked me, “Hi Adam, What is the latest research on less invasive aortic valve surgery?”

To answer Eileen’s question, I was very lucky to interview Dr. Allan Stewart during the Heart Valve Summit conference. So you know, Dr. Stewart is an excellent surgeon (and super nice guy) who has successfully treated over 100 patients from our community — including Christine Pittelli, Bill Easton, William Brogna and many others. 🙂

Here’s how Dr. Stewart answered Eileen’s question…

I hope this video helped Eileen (and perhaps you) learn more about less invasive aortic valve surgery techniques. I want to thank Eileen for her question. I also want to extend a humongous thanks to Dr. Allan Stewart for his continued support of our patient community.

• See Dr. Stewart’s Interactive Surgeon Profile
• TAVR Update: Edwards Announces Encouraging SAPIEN Intermediate-Risk Data

Keep on tickin!
Adam

P.S. For the hearing impaired members of our community, I have provided a written transcript of this interview below.

Adam: Hi, everybody! It’s Adam with HeartValveSurgery.com. I’m here at the Heart Valve Summit in Chicago, Illinois, and I am thrilled to be with Dr. Allan Stewart. Dr. Stewart, thanks for being with us.

Dr. Stewart:  My pleasure, Adam. Good to see you.

Adam:  We are answering your questions that you submitted at our Facebook page. We’re going to answer a question, Dr. Stewart, from Eileen Chan. She says, “I’m looking into learning about any new research on less invasive aortic valve surgery.” Can you share about what you’re doing in the hospital these days?

Dr. Stewart:  Absolutely, Adam! As we really evolve with new technology and new techniques, there’s a spectrum of less invasive surgery. It’s not necessary anymore to make a foot-long cut down the center of the breastbone and open it up; the incision you had many years ago. We’ve evolved now, and we have better techniques and better technology.

A standard aortic open heart surgery is still done with a chest incision, but the chest incision is only about five centimeters, about two and a half, three inches long. Now there are two options for that. One option is right through the breastbone at the top, where we make an upside down ‘T’, but the skin incision is very tiny and we put it together with titanium plates. That way you can get back to function very, very quickly in life, and you won’t alarm in the airport.

The other option is to go right through the side of the chest. Now, this is not a cosmetically appealing option to a woman because it’s right into the breast tissue. For a woman such as Eileen, I would favor the tiny incision down low. She can still wear the plunging neck gowns and the scar won’t show.

Now, I don’t know Eileen’s age but the other options available for less invasive surgery is TAVR, which we have a very robust program.

Adam:  Dr. Stewart, for people who don’t know what TAVR means, can you explain that what technology is?

Dr. Stewart: TAVR is obviously an acronym. TAVR means trans-aortic valve replacement — transcatheter. What transcatheter means is that the valve is not implanted with open-heart surgery; the valve is implanted through a neostick in the groin. Patients are normally away; they’re not even asleep for it anymore. It takes about two hours to do and the patients are home usually in two or three days. That’s how you and I will have our heart valves replaced in 20 years, but it’s something that’s reserved for elderly people right now and patients who are at high to intermediate risk for surgery.

As time goes on and more information is given to us, we’re now backing that risk profile down so that that’s going to be the standard of care soon for everyone.

Adam: Well, Dr. Stewart, as always, thanks for your support of this community, all the educational support, of course the care that you’re giving to all the great people out there. Thanks for what you do!

Jesse had been put on immediate bed rest. Jesse had not one… But, two heart surgeries. Then, he needed a third. Jesse learned of a new technology known as a “Valve-in-Valve” procedure that was in clinical trials. This is his story.

Thanks so much to Jesse, Jean, Molly and the entire McBride family for letting me into their home and into their lives. This is the first “Valve-in-Valve” patient success story that I’ve filmed. Hopeful, it will not be the last. 🙂

And… A humongous thanks goes out to Dr. Chris Malaise for helping educate our community about the “Valve-in-Valve” program at Northwestern Medicine. This really is an amazing technology!!!

• See Dr. Malaisrie’s Interactive Surgeon Profile

Keep on tickin!
Adam

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At the recent Heart Valve Summit, I received several questions about the latest technologies including TAVR, sutureless valves and the MitraClip. I also received questions about the new transcather mitral valve replacement device that is currently in a feasibility study.

So… To educate our community, I tracked down Dr. Richard Bae, who manages the interventional echocardiography lab at Minneapolis Heart Institute. Here are the highlights from our chat:

I hope this video helped all of us learn more about transcatheter mitral valve replacement devices that are currently in a feasibility study. Many thanks to Dr. Richard Bae for sharing his clinical experience and research specific to this new therapy. Needless to say, this is very exciting!

Keep on tickin!
Adam

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At the recent Heart Valve Summit, I received a great question from John about exercise and heart valve disease. John, who has a leaking heart valve, asked me, “Does exercise put me at risk?”

To answer John’s question, I was very lucky to interview Dr. Edward Savage from the Cleveland Clinic in Weston, Florida (which is close to Fort Lauderdale). So you know, Dr. Savage is a super nice guy who has successfully treated many patients in our community including Philip Lonigro, Lynda Minkowski and Robert Koch.

I hope this helped John (and perhaps you) learn more about exercise, heart valve disease and symptoms. Many thanks to John for his question and a special thanks goes out to Dr. Edward Savage for sharing his clinical experiences and research with our community!

• See Dr. Savage’s Interactive Surgeon Profile

Keep on tickin!
Adam

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As many patients and families will tell you… The heart valve surgery process can be an emotional roller coaster. As I personally experienced, there can be wonderful highs (waking up with a fixed heart) and there can be unexpected lows (cardiac depression).

For this reason, I jumped at the chance to interview Dr. Kim Feingold, founder of the Cardiac Behavioral Medicine Service at Northwestern Medicine, and Dr. Duc Thinh Pham, a cardiac surgeon, about their approach to helping patients mentally prepare for surgery.

On behalf of our entire community, I can not thank Dr. Feingold and Dr. Pham for sharing their research and their clinical experiences on this very important topic. In my opinion, these tips are invaluable to having a complete recovery of the body… and the mind!!!

• Visit Dr. Feingold’s profile page
• See Dr. Pham’s Interactive Surgeon Profile
• Discover Northwestern Medicine’s Heart Valve Microsite

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Ready to learn 8 important numbers that lower risk factors for heart disease? If so, check out this awesome new infographic from Northwest Regional Heart & Vascular to celebrate Heart Month!

Many thanks to Dr. Thomas Molloy and Adam Lee at Northwest Regional Heart & Vascular for sending over this educational infographic!

We really appreciate your ongoing support of our community!

Keep on tickin!
Adam

Have you noticed something? The patients in our community have been posting wonderful Selfies after their surgeries. Actually, they’re not just smiling… They’re also showing off their scars as a badge of courage. It’s beyond inspirational for our community and for future patients. However, there was no “home” for these selfies. 🙁

Well… I wanted to do something about that.

So… Today we’re officially launching the Smiling Scar Selfie Team app!!! 🙂

You can learn all about it in the quick video below.

I’m very hopeful the Smiling Scar Selfie Team app will be inspirational and fun for our whole community. I would also like to thank all of our sponsors who made this possible and a special thanks to Darshan Kahler and the Tradable Bits team who developed this unique application.

• Meet and Join the Smiling Scar Selfie Team

Keep on tickin!
Adam

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In case you missed it… The Perceval Sutureless Heart Valve just received a Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approval on January 11, 2016. This is really big news as the Perceval is the first rapid-deployment, sutureless heart valve for patients with aortic stenosis.

To educate our patient community about the significant implications of the Perceval’s FDA approval, I contacted three leading cardiac surgeons who were part of the clinical trials which led to Perceval’s FDA approval – Dr. Niv Ad, Dr. Gorav Ailawadi and Dr. Eric Roselli.

1. Why is the FDA approval of the Perceval Sutureless Valve important for the evolution of valve therapy?

Dr. Eric Roselli, who is the Director of the Aortic Center at the Cleveland Clinic, wrote to me, “Most simply, it provides us another option in the surgical treatment of aortic valve disease. As a sutureless device it can be delivered and fixed into the heart faster than a conventional sutured repair. Because it is collapsible, it may facilitate the use of less invasive approaches like mini right thoracotomy which is currently only offered at a few centers. It is somewhat of a hybrid approach with benefits of simplicity like TAVR while maintaining the benefits of surgical AVR like excision of the native aortic valve and a very low rate of perivalvular leak.

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[This story is brought to you by the Mitral Foundation in collaboration with HeartValveSurgery.com]

It’s not everyday I get a chance to meet a world-renowned, theoretical physicist who works at Fermilab.

So… When I heard that Boris Kayser, a guru in the field of Neutrinos, had a story to tell about his mitral valve repair surgery, I quickly jumped on the opportunity to film this educational video for the Mitral Foundation.

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