Adam's Heart Valve Surgery Blog – Page 48

Recently, I received a great question from John Myers about asymptomatic patients with mitral regurgitation. John wrote to me, “Hi Adam, I’m 76 and in good shape. In 1999, I was  diagnosed with moderate-to-severe regurgitation even though I have NO physical symptoms. I’ve read that some surgeons believe having mitral valve repair sooner than later is preferable. Should I be worried? Should I get a second opinion? Thanks, John”

Luckily, during the 47th annual Society of Thoracic Surgeons meeting, I had the chance to ask John’s question directly to Dr. David H. Adams, chairman of cardiothoracic surgery at The Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York. Considering Dr. Adams’ clinical focus on mitral valve treatment, I thought you might like to see his response.

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Wendy just sent me an interesting question about heart valve replacement surgery and atrial fibrillation. She writes, “Adam – At 68, I’m confused and nervous. I’ve been dealing with atrial fibrillation for some time. But, I was just diagnosed with a severely leaking mitral valve. Can a surgeon fix both problems during one operation? Or, will I need two separate procedures? Thanks, Wendy”

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When we started HeartValveJournals.com, our social network, I didn’t know what to expect. But now, 15 months later, I am constantly touched, moved and inspired by the patients and the caregivers who openly share their hearts in this special community.

Just now, I was surfing through the website when I came across the journal of Sarah Weir from New York, New York.

Sarah Weir – Heart Valve Repair Patient

As you can read in her story, Sarah was recently diagnosed with severe mitral valve regurgitation. Her surgery is scheduled for March 16th — next Wednesday. Doctor Pedro Del Nido at Children’s Hospital Boston will be performing the mitral valve repair. As you may recall, Dr. Del Nido was Baby Gabe’s surgeon.

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Great news everybody!

If you are interested in learning more about heart valve disease and treatment options, this is a fantastic opportunity to access two heart valve specialists — Dr. Marc Gillinov and Dr. Brian Griffin from The Cleveland Clinic.

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Thanks to your excellent questions, I had several meaningful discussions at the recent 47th annual meeting of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons in San Diego, California.

For example, Peggy wrote to me, “Adam – I’m diagnosed with severe aortic stenosis. I’m curious… How do I know if my heart valve surgeon is good?” I posed that exact question to Dr. Jurgen Ennker, the chief of cardiothoracic surgery at MediClin Heart Center in Lahr, Germany which is just outside of Frankfurt.

So you know, Dr. Jurgen Ennker is a leading heart valve surgeon in Germany. Over the past 15 years, Dr. Ennker and his team have replaced over 3,000 diseased valves with the Medtronic Freestyle device (a porcine heart valve replacement).

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Since posting my video interview with Doctor Marc Gerdisch about Extracellular Matrix, I have received several patient emails about this unique technology. Paul writes to me, “Adam – What do you think about the procedure where an Extracellular Matrix cloth is attached to the damaged valve which stimulates tissue growth and fixes the problem without a heart valve replacement? Thanks, Paul”

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In case you missed it, some interesting data was just released about the Mosaic porcine heart valve replacement. According to a report in The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, the Mosaic bioprosthetic valve — which has been implanted in patients for the past 12 years — continues to demonstrate positive performance.

Mosaic Bioprosthetic Heart Valve Replacement (Porcine Tissue)

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At the recent Society of Thoracic Surgeons convention, I was fortunate to meet several leading heart valve surgeons. One of those surgeons was Dr. Tomislav Mihaljevic from The Cleveland Clinic. Considering that Dr. Mihaljevic’s specialty is minimally invasive heart valve surgery, I was intrigued to hear his clinical response to the question, “What are the advantages of robotic mitral valve repair?”

As noted in this video, Dr. Mihaljevic has performed successful surgery on many members of our community including Anne Shannon (aortic valve replacement) and Ashish Yaduka (mitral valve repair).

To help those patients and caregivers that are hearing impaired, I have provided a video transcript of Dr. Mihaljevic’s interview below.

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Ken just sent me a financial question about the cost of an echocardiogram. He writes, “Adam – A few years back, I was diagnosed with moderate mitral valve regurgitation. Since then, I lost my job and my health insurance. Lately, I’ve experienced shortness of breath and fatigue. Do you know how much a heart valve echocardiogram costs? I’m nervous and curious to see if my mitral valve prolapse has gotten worse? Thanks, Ken”

To help Ken, I just asked Robyn, my wife, for our medical statements from December — which is when I had my last echocardiogram.

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I recently received an interesting question from Paul about aortic stenosis and nutrition. Paul writes, “Hi Adam – I’m in my 40’s and just diagnosed with a severely leaking valve. I was told I need a mechanical valve or I will drop dead in 2 to 3 years. I do not want to take Coumadin. Is it possible for patients to enter a natural program — via a qualified nutritionalist — which may actually stimulate tissue growth around the valve, thus fixing the cause rather than treating the symptoms?”

Aortic Valve Stenosis – Narrowing Heart Valve

While I have my own thoughts on this topic, I wanted to get an expert opinion for Paul. That said, I contacted Dr. Marc Gerdisch, MD, chief of cardiothoracic surgery at St. Francis Heart Center in Indiana. As many of you know, Dr. Gerdisch is a specialist for valvular treatment and cardiac tissue repair.

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Last Thursday, I found myself at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Oakland, California. My reasons for traveling to Northern California were two-fold. First, I wanted to meet Dr. Junaid Khan, MD, a leading minimally invasive heart valve surgeon on the West Coast. Second, I was asked to speak at a a special, educational seminar titled, “For People With Heart Murmurs”.

Dr. Junaid Khan & Me

My first meeting of the day was with Dr. Khan. I quickly learned several interesting facts about the surgeon who trained at UCLA Medical Center.

• Dr. Khan performed over 250 cardiac procedures in 2010.
• Over 60% of his surgeries are valve-related. Dr. Khan tends to perform more mitral valve surgery than aortic valve surgery.
• Dr. Khan’s mitral valve repair rate is about 70% while the national average is about 42%.
• Alta Bates Summit Medical Center was the only cardiac center to receive a “three-star” rating in California from Consumer Reports.
• Dr. Khan is a dedicated father and husband. Currently, Dr. Khan coaches the baseball teams for his two sons.

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Talk about a great coincidence… Just a few minutes after receiving this patient question, Dr. Lars Svensson — the Director of the Aorta Center at the Cleveland Clinic —  walked up to my booth at the 47th annual Society of Thoracic Surgeons meeting. That said, here is Dr. Svensson’s response to the question, “What are the key indicators that a diseased aortic valve can be repaired not replaced?”

To learn more about Doctor Lars Svensson, cardiac surgeon, please visit his surgeon profile page by clicking here. For those of you who are hearing impaired, I have provided a video transcript below.

Adam: Hey, everybody. It’s Adam and I’m here in San Diego at the 47th annual STS convention. Very fortunate to be standing next to Dr. Lars Svensson, heart valve surgeon from the Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Svensson has been in practice for just about 30 years.

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Advances in medical technology for valvular treatment continue to evolve rapidly. Recently, I learned more about the use of Extracelluar Matrix (ECM) for heart valve repair and remodeling from Dr. Marc Gerdisch, the chief of cardiothoracic surgery at St. Francis Heart Center in Indianapolis, Indiana. In 2008, Doctor Gerdisch was the world’s first surgeon to use ECM to repair a damaged heart valve.

Here is my interview with Dr. Gerdisch. This discussion was in direct response to Scott’s question, “Will patients be able to grow their own heart valves in the future?”

To help you learn more about Extracellular Matrix and Dr. Gerdisch, I have provided an additional video about ECM and a transcript of this interview below.

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Hi everybody,

Since launching our patient and caregiver social network last year, Heart Valve Journals has undergone extraordinary growth.

To give you some idea as to how fast this online community has grown, consider that over the past 6 months our servers have “overloaded” three times. On one day alone, over 10,000 patients and caregivers visited this unique website. So, in order to ensure continuous service, I recently upgraded our servers to a dedicated system. Thus far, the new servers are doing fantastic!!!

HeartValveJournals.com — New Design!

You should also know that we plan on taking Heart Valve Journals into Phase II during 2011. Over the next 12 months, you will see several new features and functions to enhance the communication and interaction of heart valve patients and caregivers around the world. To start… We have given the site a completely new design. During testing, this new design performed favorably — specific to usability and readability.

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Hearts are everywhere!

Not only is February “Heart Month” but today is… Valentine’s Day. That said, Ethan, Robyn and I wanted to ensure you knew how much the patients, caregivers, nurses, cardiologists and surgeons of this community mean to us.

Thanks for all that you do to help each other through heart valve surgery. We wish you a wonderful day!

Keep on tickin!
Adam

During the 47th annual Society of Thoracic Surgeons meeting last week, I received a great question from Keith about the use of horse (equine) tissue in heart valve replacement devices. Keith wrote to me, “Adam – What can you share about aortic valve replacement surgery using horse tissue?”

Luckily, I was able to discuss this topic with Dr. Allan Stewart at the convention. Dr. Stewart, who practices in Miami, is one of the most experienced heart valve surgeons with horse valve replacements — like the ATS 3f Aortic Bioprosthesis manufactured by Medtronic.

As several members of our patient and caregiver community are hearing impaired, I have provided a video transcript below.

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For those in the Oakland area, I wanted to invite you to a special, educational seminar hosted by Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Oakland, California this Thursday, February 17, at 6:30pm.

During this complimentary session titled, “For People with Heart Murmus”, Dr. Junaid Khan, staff surgeon, will discuss heart valve disease and the various treatment options available to patients. To help patients and their caregivers understand the patient perspective on heart valve surgery, Dr. Khan has asked me to speak at the event and then sign books. FYI, all books signed will be provided at no charge for those who RSVP in advance of the event (while supplies last).

If you or some you know would like to attend the event, please RSVP by calling (510) 869-6737 as soon as possible — space is limited.

I hope to see you there!

Keep on tickin!
Adam

Since writing my book and launching this website, I have been very fortunate to meet some amazing people. One such person is Dr. Marc Gillinov of the Cleveland Clinic. Not only is Dr. Gillinov an incredible surgeon but he is a patient advocate and a proactive supporter of our community.

That said, I was thrilled to interview Dr. Gillinov about the important — but sometimes overlooked — topic of cardiac depression. As I personally experienced, cardiac depression can be an unexpected and unnecessary pitfall during the recovery from heart valve surgery.

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For those unfamiliar with the name “Dr. Vincent Gaudiani”, I’m hopeful this video provides a unique opportunity for you to gain awareness and access to this special cardiac surgeon from Northern California. During his 25+ year career, Dr. Gaudiani has performed over 10,000 heart-related surgeries. Most importantly, Dr. Gaudiani has a way with patients that compels them to email me glowing surgical reviews, praise and success stories (e.g. George Avakian).

That said, I was excited to meet with and interview Dr. Vincent Gaudiani at the 47th annual Society of Thoracic Surgeons convention earlier this week. Here is Dr. Gaudiani’s response to the question, “What advice would you give yourself if you were a patient?”

Also, for those of you who are hearing impaired, I have provided a transcript below for your review.

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Hi everybody,

I wanted you all to know that Heart Valve Surgeon Finder – the world’s first heart valve surgeon directory created by patients, caregivers and surgeons — has undergone some great enhancements lately.

In addition to giving the site a new look-and-feel, we have begun embedding surgeon videos throughout the website. That way, you can learn more about heart valve surgeons via interviews, patient success stories, clinical research and operating room observations.

Also, if you would like to help expand this educational effort… Please, please consider adding your own surgeon experience to the database. That’s right! If you are a former patient, you can help! Simply click here to learn more. (It only takes 5 minutes.)

Keep on tickin!
Adam