Adam's Heart Valve Surgery Blog – Page 51

I just received a great question from Kate about heart valve replacement surgery.

Kate writes, “Hi Adam, I’m going in for surgery next week and I have a quick, follow-up question about the size of a heart valve replacement. It might sound silly, but… During the operation, how will the surgeon measure my valve? Do they have some kind of sterile tape measure? Thanks, Kate”

While we might think that a “surgical tape measure” would determine the diameter of the mechanical or bioprosthetic replacement valve, the reality is a bit different.

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Within minutes of posting “CoreValve Technology Get E.U. Approval”, I received two excellent questions from Jim and Mark. Their questions were, “Can the CoreValve system treat aortic regurgitation?” and “Can the CoreValve technology replace my bicuspid aortic valve?”

To provide Jim, Mark and everybody else a thoughtful response, I contacted Dr. Eric Roselli, MD, a heart surgeon from The Cleveland Clinic, and Dr. Allan Stewart, a heart surgeon from Miami. Here are their responses:

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As difficult as the memories of today can be, I always end up smiling in Scotty’s memory – his bubbly laugh, constant high fives and ability to see the good in everything around him.

There will be a tomorrow that exists without me. And I know that. When that day arrives, I want this world to have seen greater beauty because I existed. I want my life to have meant something. I want this world to be brighter. I want this world to be happier. I want people to have smiled more and to have laughed more because I’ve spent time here. I want others to have seen and felt the uniqueness of my spirit. And if I accomplish that, when my soul does move on and my gift stays here and makes just one ripple, I will look down and I will smile. I will smile wide.

To learn more about my friend, please visit the Scott Weingard memorial.

Thinking of you Scottie!
Adam

As technology for heart valve treatment rapidly advances, we continue to learn more about the roll-out of percutaneous devices for both heart valve repair and heart valve replacement. On Tuesday, Medtronic announced that regulators in the European Union have approved the latest version of its CoreValve heart system.

The CoreValve delivery system is designed to help surgeons replace a diseased aortic valve without removing the original valve and without open heart surgery. Instead, they put a new valve into a catheter and guide the catheter to the heart from an artery in the leg.

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I just received a unique question from Dave about situs inversus and heart valve replacement.

Dave writes, “Hi Adam, I was recently diagnosed with severe aortic regurgitation and a dilated aorta. It’s now time for a valve replacement. I was born with situs inversus with dextrocardia – a rare condition in which my abdominal organs are reversed so my heart is located in the right side of my chest. I’m wondering if any of your readers have situs inversus? I would like to hear their experiences with valve replacement surgery. Thanks for your book! Dave”

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Great news! We have another patient success story!

After aortic valve replacement surgery due to aortic stenosis last May, Barbara Walters returned to The View yesterday. In case you missed it, the show opened with a fun parody about Barbara’s recovery and a meaningful discussion about heart disease.
 

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He writes, “Adam – My wife is going in for aortic valve replacement operation next week. I want to support her morning, noon and night. Do you know if I will be able to stay in the ICU overnight with her? Thanks, Ted”

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I just received a question from Dawn about her recent diagnosis of mitral regurgitation.

Dawn writes, “Adam – Two days ago, I was diagnosed with “moderate to severe” mitral regurgitation. My cardiologist told me that surgery is likely in the next 24 months. Needless to say, I’m confused by all of this and looking to learn more. I never even knew I had a prolapsed valve. I’m curious to know what mitral regurgitation sounds like but I don’t own a stethoscope. By chance, do you have any MP3s you can send me? Thanks, Dawn.”

While I don’t have any audio files to send Dawn, the video above contains the actual sounds of a heart beating with mitral regurgitation. Do you hear the muffled sound of the heart beat? For comparison, I included the sound of a normal heart beat below.

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Cindy just sent me this great email. Given her unique story, I thought you might really enjoy it.

Hi Adam,

I have written you before about the recovery from heart valve surgery. We exchanged emails about when you really felt healed. Last year, I had mitral and tricuspid valve repair by Dr. David Adams in New York — even though I live in California.

We just returned from our summer vacation in Jackson, Wyoming. While I’ve been there many times, this experience was SO different!!!

Cindy & Rich Tarver

I was able to hike and SEE lakes that I never could see before! Prior to surgery, the altitude was too much for my severely damaged valve.  (So you know, I’ve had problems with mitral valve prolapse since childhood, gradually getting to the point of 100% mitral regurgitation with calcified leaflets.)

This year, I was hiking at 7,000 feet with NO shortness of breath!

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I just received an interesting question from Jenny about the size of a mechanical heart valve replacement.

Jenny writes to me, “Adam – Like many patients on your blog, I’m preparing for aortic valve replacement. I’m young, 29, with a bicuspid aortic valve that has severe stenosis. I’m thinking a mechanical valve is the best option for me. However, I can’t stop thinking about the little device clicking away in my heart. Quick question… Do you know the size of a mechanical heart valve? Thanks, Jenny”

There are a few ways to answer Jenny’s question. On one hand, I could assemble a table which contains the different sizes of mechanical valves — by diameter and by surface area. However, I often think the cliche, “A picture is worth a thousand words”, is more appropriate. That said, a mechanical valve is about this big…

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Every once in a while I see a product that makes me think, “Huh?”, “What?”, “No way!”, “Can’t be!” and “Really?” The last time I had that thought was when the marketeers at Chia America released… Chia Obama.

Today, I find myself thinking, “Huh?”, “What?”, “No way!”, “Can’t be!” and “Really?!” once again.

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Here’s a great question from Bruce about mitral valve repairs, tight annuloplasty ring and post-operative complications.

Bruce writes, “Hi Adam, I read your book about a year ago, before my surgery, and have faithfully read your newsletter. What have you ever heard about patients who had mitral valve repairs via open heart surgery and afterwards find the repair annuloplasty ring was a bit tight resulting in irregularities showing up in treadmill stress echocardiograms and shortness of breath? Thanks, Bruce”

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Jim just sent me this question about an echocardiogram after heart surgery. He writes, “Adam – How often should an echocardiogram be performed after surgery. I had my aortic valve replaced. Thanks, Jim”

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Some really interesting patient stories continue to fill up my inbox. Here’s a great one from Don about his new mission saving dogs after mitral valve replacement.

Don Hull, Heart Valve
Replacement Patient, With Hooch

Hey Adam,

I recently regained my Special Issuance Class III FAA medical certificate which allows me to fly my airplane as a private pilot again.  I had an Edwards Bovine tissue mitral valve placed in April 2009 and had to wait at least six months before beginning the rigorous physical testing to regain my FAA medical certificate.

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I just received a very unique question from Barb about carcinoid tumor injections and bovine heart valve replacements. Barb writes to me:

Bovine Aortic Valve Replacement

Hi Adam,

First, I’d like to express my appreciation to you for your very informative book and emails.  I am a 54-year-old woman who was aware of aortic valve stenosis since the age of 16, and finally had an aortic bovine valve replacement in January 2009.  I also had an aortic root aneurysm repair.  I’ve done very well in my recovery, and found your book extremely helpful.

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I always enjoy reading patient success stories. However, this update really made me think, “Fannnnn-tasssss-tic!”. Specifically, I like the way Chaz utilizes a “Before and After” approach to describe his heart valve replacement experience:

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Here’s an interesting question from Julie about heart valve stenosis and enlarged hearts.

Julie writes to me, “Adam – Like you, I was diagnosed with heart valve stenosis and an enlarged heart. I’m just curious. How big can a dilated heart get before failure? 20% bigger? 50% bigger? Any thoughts? Thanks, Julie”

I wanted an expert opinion for Julie’s question, so I contacted Dr. Kevin Accola, M.D., one of the leading heart valve surgeons from AdventHealth Cardiovascular Institute (formerly Florida Hospital). (As you might recall, Dr. Accola has operated on several patients, like Scott Nieman, that regularly visit this blog.)

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Over the past 4 years, many of you have written me with excellent and innovative suggestions for improving this website. As a result, we have created some great new services including the Heart Valve Surgeon Database and Heart Valve Journals.

Today, I am excited to share with you the new design for this blog. The new “look-and-feel” was developed to address many of your ideas including:

• Bigger, easier-to-read text. You will notice the letters of the body text are much BIGGER in 14 point size. Also, the text now has a gray overtone to ease the contrast on your eyes.
• Access information faster. You will notice two buttons in the upper right hand corner marked “Find Surgeons” and “Meet Patients”. When clicking these buttons, you will be taken directly to The Heart Valve Surgeon Database and Heart Valve Journals.
• Enhanced comments section. You will also notice the comments section is completely different. Now, in addition to a much larger font, each comment is separated by “quote bubbles” with individual name identifiers. I want to make sure that all of your insightful comments and questions are highlighted for others to learn from.
• Clutter removal. Finally, we removed other content (links, text) that cluttered the previous design. We even removed certain functions (email sharing, printing, etc.) to clean the screen and better organize content.

Going forward, we may make a few more changes. But, for now, I’m curious to know what you think about this new design. Do you like it? Do you hate it? Do you like parts of it? Do you dislike parts of it?

Keep on tickin!
Adam

These are the hardest posts to write. As the sadness is overwhelming my fingertips, I’ll be brief.

Earlier today, our community lost Lori from Austin, Texas following mitral valve surgery. Needless to say, my thoughts and prayers are with Lori’s husband, her three girls, her family and her friends.

Lori (1971-2010)

I am deeply moved by Lori’s passing. I’ve now been staring at my computer for an hour not knowing what to write. Although we only exchanged email one time before her surgery, I could sense Lori’s fun-loving nature and dedication to her family in the words of her Heart Valve Journal. Again, I am overwhelmed.

If you would like to share something (a thought, a story, a memory) about Lori, please click here or visit her Guestbook.

Update: There will be a visitation on Monday, August 23 from 6-8pm at Weed-Corley-Fish Funeral Home located at 3125 North Lamar Blvd. in Austin. On Tuesday, memorial services will be held at the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, 3201 Windsor Rd. in Austin at 2pm. A reception will follow in Parish Hall.

The family has asked that – in lieu of flowers – donations may be made to the Lori Tullos Barta Memorial Fund, Downs Syndrome Association of Central Texas, 3710 Cedar Street, Austin, Texas 78705-1450.

In memory of Lori,
Adam

For those of you who have been keeping track of Baby Victor’s heart surgery journey, I have great news to share!

Victor is now back at home back in El Salvador with his mother and father. In fact, I was lucky enough to receive a picture which shows Victor’s homecoming.

Thanks again to all of you who supported Victor through the purchase of my book. Whether you knew it or not, you have helped save the life of a very courageous boy.

Keep on tickin!
Ada