About Dr. Melita Viegas,
Heart Valve Surgeon

"I had known since my mid-twenties that I was born with a leaky, bicuspid aortic valve. I was in Europe last summer when my heart felt like it was missing beats. That’s when my cardiologist told me “it’s time for surgery.”

At first, I thought that my options were a metal valve or cow or pig valve. But both would require re-operations within a certain number of years, and mechanical valves require blood thinners. Then I learned about the Ross procedure, which replaces the aortic valve with a patient’s own pulmonary valve, and then replaces the pulmonary valve with a donor valve. Not many surgeons perform the Ross because of its complexity. But its success rate is very high, and it often restores full life expectancy for younger patients like me.

The reputation of Cedars-Sinai helped lead me to Dr. Kim. My overall take on Cedars was how on top of patient communications they are. All the schedulers not only got me in for consultation and surgery faster than other hospitals, but they took the initiative to contact my cardiologists to get my records for me. Even after my surgery with Dr. Kim and Dr. Viegas, other hospitals were calling saying that they could finally give me just a consult. Full open-heart surgery is scary. And waking up with a breathing tube is not an experience I’d care to repeat. But I got better fast. And Dr. Kim came to visit me in the ICU daily after my surgery. Both Dr. Kim and Dr. Viegas were very attentive when talking with me. Their NP, Nicole Berndsen, was also terrific. Six months after surgery, I’m 95% back to normal.

Dr. Kim and Dr. Viegas performed a complex operation brilliantly. I can now look forward to the rest of my life knowing that I most likely won’t need heart valve surgery again. I can only recommend this feeling 100%!"

-- Douglas Smith, Aortic Valve, Pulmonary Valve, Valve Replacement, Ross Procedure, 10/01/2025