{"id":24091,"date":"2018-01-26T09:22:53","date_gmt":"2018-01-26T14:22:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/?p=24091"},"modified":"2025-06-07T17:59:24","modified_gmt":"2025-06-07T22:59:24","slug":"pumphead-facts-dr-patrick-mccarthy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/2018\/01\/26\/pumphead-facts-dr-patrick-mccarthy\/","title":{"rendered":"“What Should Patients Know About Pumphead?” asks Pam"},"content":{"rendered":"

For patients needing open heart surgery… \u00a0The use of a heart-lung machine<\/a>, also known as the “Pump”, is required to circulate blood while the heart is stopped, fixed and then restarted. The use of the Pump, however, has unfortunately been associated with cognitive issues – forgetfulness, poor attention span, fogginess, reduced speed of movement – following surgery.<\/p>\n

Specific to this important topic, I received a great question from Pam about “Pumphead”. \u00a0She wrote to me, \u201cHi Adam, I had robotic mitral valve surgery in January. Although I’m feeling good, I still have lingering symptoms of Pumphead \u2013 double vision, floaters in my vision, fuzziness. \u00a0What exactly causes Pumphead? What is happening in my brain when I’m experiencing these post-surgery symptoms?\u201d<\/p>\n

To answer Pam’s question, I connected with Dr. Patrick McCarthy<\/a> at the Heart Valve Summit in Chicago. \u00a0Dr. McCarthy, who is the Executive Director of the Northwestern Medicine Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute, has performed over 10,000 cardiac procedures and more than 4,000 heart valve operations. \u00a0So you know, Dr. McCarthy has successfully treated over 200 patients from our community and invented many heart valve devices. \u00a0Here’s the highlights from our chat about Pumphead.<\/p>\n

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