{"id":43772,"date":"2026-05-03T13:02:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T18:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/?p=43772"},"modified":"2026-05-03T15:41:44","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T20:41:44","slug":"ask-adam-anything-aats-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/2026\/05\/03\/ask-adam-anything-aats-2\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cAsk Adam Anything\u201d Gets Amazing Patient Response at AATS!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Dear Patients, Doctors &amp; Friends,<\/p>\n<p>OMG! I am overwhelmed by our community response to the \u201cAsk Adam Anything\u201d event at the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Thoracic Surgery (AATS) in Chicago!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-43798\" src=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/..\/Images\/AATS-Conference-2026-Collage.jpg\" alt=\"2026 American Association for Thoracic Surgery\" width=\"600\" height=\"314\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>As you might recall\u2026 Last week, I <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/2026\/04\/24\/ask-adam-anything-aats\/\">posted a request<\/a> for patient questions about heart valve disease management and treatment. Within minutes, my inbox started to fill-up with fascinating patient questions.\u00a0 Since then, I have received more than 200 questions.\u00a0 To prepare for the all-day video shoot at AATS, I spent Friday night going through the patient questions in preparation for \u201cAsk Me Anything\u201d session at AATS.\u00a0 Fyi, we invited 10 leading heart valve surgeons to join us for this special interactive event.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<br \/>\n<!--more--><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-43773\" src=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/..\/Images\/Dr-Patrick-McCarthy-TransForm-Mitral-Valve-Repair-Annuloplasty-Ring.jpg\" alt=\"Dr. Patrick McCarthy Holding the TransForm McCarthy Mitral Annuloplasty Ring\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/>Dr. Patrick McCarthy (Northwestern Medicine) Holding the New<br \/>\nTransForm\u2122 McCarthy Mitral Annuloplasty Ring<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Above is picture of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/surgeons\/dr-Patrick-McCarthy-Chicago-Illinois.php\">Dr. Patrick McCarthy<\/a>, the Executive Director of the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute and a mitral valve expert at Northwestern Medicine.\u00a0 If you look closely, you can see that I&#8217;m pointing to Dr. McCarthy&#8217;s new mitral valve repair ring known as the <a href=\"https:\/\/geneseebiomedical.com\/project\/transform-mccarthy-mitral-annuloplasty-ring\/\">TransForm\u2122 McCarthy Mitral Annuloplasty Ring<\/a>. This innovative device is able to &#8220;transform&#8221; from a d-shape into a circle-shape to accommodate a transcatheter mitral valve replacement during a &#8220;valve-in-ring&#8221; procedure if the patient requires an additional mitral valve therapy in the future.\u00a0 Dr. McCarthy shared with me, &#8220;Adam, It&#8217;s like having an airbag in your car.&#8221;\u00a0 Here&#8217;s a quick video showing how the ring can transform.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5UVflzDUNJo?si=h8LwM6D1I0Mm6z-d\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Not only did we get to interview <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/surgeons\/dr-Marc-Gillinov-Cleveland-Ohio.php\">Dr. Marc Gillinov<\/a>, the Chairman of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic, about important topics including second opinions and mitral valve disease progression but we also got to meet Lisa Gillinov, his wife.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-43781\" src=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/..\/Images\/Dr-Marc-Gillinov-Cleveland-Clinic-Wife.jpg\" alt=\"Dr. Marc Gillinov, Chairman of Cardiac Surgery at Cleveland Clinic, and His Wife Lisa\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/>Dr. Marc Gillinov (Cleveland Clinic) and Lisa, His Wife<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Below is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/surgeons\/dr-Ismail-El-Hamamsy-New+York+City-New%20York.php\">Dr. Ismail El-Hamamsy<\/a>, Director of Aortic Surgery at Mount Sinai Health in New York City.\u00a0 Dr. El-Hamamsy and I talked about new research specific to technical modifications to the Ross Procedure and his oral abstract about bicuspid aortic valve repair surgery presented at AATS.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-43784\" src=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/..\/Images\/Dr-Ismail-El-Hamamsy-Mount-Sinai-Health-Ross-Procedure.jpg\" alt=\"Dr. Ismail El-Hamamsy - Ross Procedure Expert at Mount Sinai Health\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/>Dr. Ismail El-Hamamsy (Mount Sinai Health System)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>That is <a href=\"https:\/\/doctors.umiamihealth.org\/provider\/juan-pablo-umana\/4846177\">Dr. Juan Pablo Umana<\/a>, the Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery at University of Miami Health System in Miami, Florida. Dr. Umana answered questions from Lisa and Robert about upper age limitations for the Ross Procedure and the important considerations of patient outcomes relative to incision sizes.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-43779\" src=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/..\/Images\/Dr-Juan-Pablo-Umana-Miami-University-Health-System-Chief-Cardiac-Surgery.jpg\" alt=\"Dr. Juan Pablo Umana - Chief of Cardiac Surgery at University of Miami Health System\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/>Dr. Juan Pablo Umana (University of Miami Health System)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Yep! Below is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/surgeons\/dr-Eric-Roselli-Cleveland-Ohio.php\">Dr. Eric Roselli<\/a>, the Chief of Adult Cardiac Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic. So you know, Dr. Roselli was one of the program directors of AATS year.\u00a0 So, a special thanks goes out to Dr. Roselli for getting us all together for this extraordinary event.\u00a0 During our interview, Dr. Roselli answered patient questions from Sharon, Cora and Ben about aortic stenosis progression, echocardiograms, heart valve durability and artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-43795\" src=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/..\/Images\/Dr-Eric-Roselli-Cleveland-Clinic-1.jpg\" alt=\"Dr. Eric Roselli\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/>Dr. Eric Roselli (Cleveland Clinic)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Here is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.adventhealth.com\/doctors\/ioannis-loumiotis-md-1992083521\">Dr. Ioannis Loumiotis<\/a>, the Director of Aortic Surgery at AdventHealth in Orlando, Florida. During the interview, we talked about the different criteria that Dr. Loumiotis uses to evaluate whether-or-not a diseased aortic valve can be repaired.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-43782\" src=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/..\/Images\/Dr-Ioannis-Loumiotis-AdventHealth-Director-Aortic-Surgery.jpg\" alt=\"Dr. Ioannis Loumiotis - Aortic Valve Surgeon - AdventHealth\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/>Dr. Ioannis Loumiotis (AdventHealth)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>That is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/surgeons\/dr-William-Brinkman-Plano-Texas.php\">Dr. Bill Brinkman<\/a>, the Director of the Thoracic Aortic Clinic at Baylor Scott &amp; White The Heart Hospital &#8211; Plano.\u00a0 We discussed Ross Procedure re-interventions, the impact of weightlifting after heart valve surgery, and critical patient considerations for the surgical or transcatheter treatment of aortic regurgitation.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-43783\" src=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/..\/Images\/Dr-William-Brinkman-Baylor-Scott-White-Plano.jpg\" alt=\"Dr. William Brinkman, Ross Procedure Expert at Baylor Scott &amp; White in Plano, Texas\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/>Dr. William Brinkman (Baylor Scott &amp; White The Heart Hospital &#8211; Plano)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Here is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/surgeons\/dr-Kenan-Yount-Jacksonville-Florida.php\">Dr. Kenan Yount<\/a>, a heart valve expert the Mayo Clinic Florida in Jacksonville, Florida. Dr. Yount and I talked about the role of minimally-invasive techniques for mitral valve disease and how he evaluates patients for surgical aortic valve replacement or transcatheter aortic valve replacement.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-43787\" src=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/..\/Images\/Dr-Kenan-Yount-Mayo-Clinic-Florida-Jacksonville.jpg\" alt=\"Dr. Kenan Yount - Mayo Clinic Jacksonville\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/>Dr. Kenan Yount (Mayo Clinic Florida)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In addition to filming video interviews, our time at AATS gave us an opportunity to meet other leaders in cardiac care.\u00a0 Below is <a href=\"https:\/\/medicine.iu.edu\/faculty\/69886\/pereira-sara\">Dr. Sara Pereira<\/a>, the Chief of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Indiana University Health in Indianapolis, Indiana.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-43785\" src=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/..\/Images\/Dr-Sara-Pereira-Indiana-University-Chief-Cardiac-Surgery.jpg\" alt=\"Dr. Sara Pereira - Indian University - Chief of Cardiac Surgery\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/>Dr. Sara Pereira (Indiana University Health)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Here is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/surgeons\/dr-Christopher-Mehta-Chicago-Illinois.php\">Dr. Chris Mehta<\/a>, Director of the Bicuspid Aortic Valve and Aortic Dissection Programs at Northwestern Medicine. Dr. Mehta answered Cindy&#8217;s question about aortic dissection risks and Jeanne&#8217;s question about aortic valve sizing.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-43801\" src=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/..\/Images\/Dr-Chris-Mehta-Northwestern-Medicine.jpg\" alt=\"Dr. Chris Mehta Northwestern Medicine\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/>Dr. Chris Mehta (Northwestern Medicine) and Katie Bal (HVS)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>We had a great time with <a href=\"https:\/\/med.miami.edu\/faculty\/ciro-amodio-md\">Dr. Ciro Amodio<\/a>, the Director of the Aorta Program at University of Miami Health System in Miami, Florida.\u00a0 We discussed several topics including aortic valve disease, aneurysms and the importance of finding cardiac centers that specialize in the patient&#8217;s specific disease.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-43788\" src=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/..\/Images\/Dr-Ciro-Amodio-University-Miami-Health-System-Heart-Surgeon.jpg\" alt=\"Dr. Ciro Amodio - Director of Aorta Program - University of Miami\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/>Dr. Ciro Amodio (University of Miami Health System)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>What Happens Next?<\/h2>\n<p>The next step in the \u201cAsk Adam Anything\u201d experience is that our team will edit the 25+ educational videos filmed at AATS.\u00a0 We will then have the videos transcribed for the hearing impaired members of our community and finally we will syndicate the videos across the HeartValveSurgery.com Social Media Platform that is followed by over 585,000 patients, care partners, cardiac surgeons, referring cardiologists, physician assistants, nurses, hospitals and research organizations.<\/p>\n<p>If you would like to receive all the educational content from the \u201cAsk Adam Anything\u201d event, please\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/subscribe-adams-blog.php\">click here to subscribe to my free newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!<\/h2>\n<p>I want to extend a mighty thank you to all the wonderful patients who participated in the \u201cAsk Adam Anything\u201d event at AATS!\u00a0 I was so happy to receive so many great patient questions.\u00a0 I realize that we did not answer every patient question.\u00a0 However, please note that we will put all the unanswered questions into our educational queue so that we can address those questions in the future.<\/p>\n<p>I would also like to thank the amazing surgeons who participated in this special event!\u00a0 As a community, we cannot thank you enough for your support of this educational initiative and the care you provide for heart valve patients!<\/p>\n<p>Keep on tickin!<br \/>\nAdam<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43802,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adams-updates"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43772"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43772\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43836,"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43772\/revisions\/43836"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}