{"id":43606,"date":"2026-04-04T03:16:58","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T08:16:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/?p=43606"},"modified":"2026-04-04T03:16:58","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T08:16:58","slug":"ross-procedure-ptfe-conduit-patient","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/2026\/04\/04\/ross-procedure-ptfe-conduit-patient\/","title":{"rendered":"In Japan, Little Luca Gets Ross Procedure with PTFE Valved Conduit"},"content":{"rendered":"

I just received a fascinating email from Andy Roe, an American living in Japan with his wife and five children.\u00a0 In his email, Andy shared that his 11-month old son, Luca, was diagnosed with severe aortic stenosis. Like many parents, Andy researched the Ross Procedure<\/a>, an advanced type of aortic valve replacement operation, that might help Luca.\u00a0 However, Andy was surprised to learn that human donor valve replacements, which are an essential part of the Ross Procedure, are not available in Japan. Instead, Luca would get a custom Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) Valved Conduit.<\/p>\n

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\"PFTELuca (11-Month Old Aortic Stenosis Patient)<\/p>\n

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Andy Says…<\/h2>\n

With his permission, I am honored to share Andy’s email to help educate the parents in our community about this unique type of Ross Procedure. Here is what Andy wrote to me:<\/p>\n

Hi Adam, I am an American living in Japan. My son was born with aortic stenosis. Three weeks ago, at 11 months old, he underwent the Ross Procedure.\u00a0 But, it was a little different than the traditional Ross Procedure.<\/div>\n

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\"PFTEPolytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) Valved Conduit<\/div>\n

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Since my son’s Ross Procedure was performed in Japan, we do not use human donor valves to replace the pulmonary valve. Instead, a Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) Valved Conduit<\/a> made from Gore-Tex was used in the pulmonary position. Luca’s surgeon, Dr. Masahiko Nishioka, Chief of Pediatric Cardiovascular Surgery at Nanbu Children’s Hospital in Okinawa, Japan, showed me one of these valves. The surgeon actually hand-crafted my son’s new valve. He said it took him 3 hours to make. There seems to be a lot of benefits for this type of valve:<\/p>\n