{"id":5999,"date":"2025-07-30T18:09:55","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T18:09:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/learning\/?page_id=5999"},"modified":"2026-04-02T18:46:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T18:46:09","slug":"aortic-aneurysm-valve-disease-ross-procedure","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/learning\/aortic-aneurysm-valve-disease-ross-procedure\/","title":{"rendered":"Surgeon Q&#038;A: Aortic Aneurysms, Aortic Valve Disease &#038; Ross Procedure Candidacy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Thanks to new durability research developed over the past 20+ years, more aortic valve disease patients are undergoing the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/ross-procedure-aortic-disease\">Ross Procedure<\/a>. In fact, The Society of Thoracic Surgeons <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/Ross-Procedure-8-Facts-To-Know-eBook.pdf\">reports<\/a> that approximately 7 percent of patients under 60 years old now choose the Ross Procedure compared to only 1 percent in the same age range seven years ago. This complex and innovative surgery offers patients long-term durability that biologic valves can\u2019t yet provide and it doesn\u2019t require the lifetime blood-thinning medications of a mechanical valve replacement.<\/p>\n<p>Given the elevated interest in the Ross Procedure, we are often flooded with questions from patients who want to know if it could be the right option for treating their aortic valve disease. One question is, &#8220;Can a patient with an aortic aneurysm and aortic valve disease be a candidate for the Ross Procedure?&#8221; Adam Pick, founder of HeartValveSurgery.com, met with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/surgeons\/dr-S.+Chris-Malaisrie-Chicago-Illinois.php\">Dr. Chris Malaisrie<\/a>, a leading cardiac surgeon at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, Illinois, to learn whether-or-not the Ross Procedure may be the right choice when patients have both aortic valve disease and an aneurysm.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Es6D-NSJeVA?rel=0&#038;si=JASDnxPDFz-RfA1U\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Treating an Aortic Aneurysm During the Ross Procedure<\/h2>\n<p>Here are the key insights shared by Dr. Malaisrie:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The Ross Procedure involves more than just the aortic valve. \u201cPatients with aortic valve disease often have an aortic aneurysm associated with the disease,\u201d said Dr. Malaisrie. \u201cPeople think that Ross Procedures are just to treat aortic valve disease or replace the diseased valve with the patient\u2019s own pulmonary valve, but a lot of times, the aneurysm will also get replaced. A large part of the aorta is replaced as part of the Ross operation, so if you have an aneurysm with your aortic valve disease, you are still a candidate for the Ross surgery.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-6002 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/learning\/..\/Images\/aortic-aneurysm-drawing-1.jpg\" alt=\"Aortic Aneurysm Drawing\" width=\"650\" height=\"361\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What additional considerations do you need to prepare for if you\u2019re doing both the Ross Procedure and an aortic aneurysm treatment at the same time? Dr. Malaisrie said, \u201cThere are two things I look at for the Ross Procedure. First, is the procedure doable? Can we perform the Ross Procedure and provide the patient with a fully functional valve? But I\u2019m also looking to make sure that the procedure is durable, meaning it can last years, maybe decades, into the patient\u2019s lifetime.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Fixing the aneurysm will help with the long-term success of the operation. Dr Malaisrie said, \u201cThe technicality with the aortic aneurysm is to prevent failure of the pulmonary autograft, causing it to get bigger over time. There are techniques we use during surgery to stabilize the autograft, so it doesn\u2019t become aneurysmal. I think this will make the procedure not only doable but also durable.\u201d For patients unfamiliar with the Ross Procedure, the autograft is the pulmonary valve that has been transferred to the aortic position. \u201cWe have to take the patient\u2019s diseased aortic valve out and, in its place, we use the patient\u2019s own pulmonary valve along with the pulmonary arteries. So, we\u2019re taking the whole pulmonary route as the replacement piece.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-6003 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/learning\/..\/Images\/stabilized-ross-procedure-autograft.jpg\" alt=\"Stablized Autograft After Ross Procedure\" width=\"650\" height=\"360\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Thanks Dr. Malaisrie and Northwestern Medicine!<\/h2>\n<p>On behalf of all the patients in our community, thank you, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/surgeons\/dr-S.+Chris-Malaisrie-Chicago-Illinois.php\">Dr. Chris Malaisrie<\/a>, for everything you and your team are doing at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, Illinois!<\/p>\n<p>Related links:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/ross-procedure-aortic-disease\">Discover the Ross Procedure Patient Education Center<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/videos\/6-misconceptions-webinar\">Patient Webinar: 6 Misconceptions About Heart Valve Surgery with Dr. Malaisrie<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/2025\/06\/21\/northwestern-medicine-100-ross-procedure\/\">Northwestern Medicine\u2019s 100<sup>th<\/sup> Ross Procedure with 0% Mortality!<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Keep on tickin,<br \/>\nAdam<\/p>\n<p>P.S. For the deaf and hard-of-hearing members of our patient community, we have provided a written transcript of our interview with Dr. Malaisrie below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"cms.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"class_list":["post-5999","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","category-ross-procedure"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5999"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5999\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6597,"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5999\/revisions\/6597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}