Heart Valve Replacement News and Info
When I wake up in the morning, there is nothing better than opening an email like this…
Hello Adam,
As I am now in my 14th week since having heart surgery, I look back with much appreciation. I was hospitalized in September, 2007 for shortness of breath and coughing up small amounts of blood. At that [...]
It’s never easy talking to parents about their children with heart murmurs.
The discussion is even more challenging when I have a life-long relationship with the parents. (As I previously shared, my nephew (Buddy) was diagnosed with a small heart murmur earlier this summer.)
Recently, my best best friend, Rob, discovered that his six-month old son, Sammy, [...]
Herbert, from the Philippines, just emailed me about his recent diagnosis of mitral valve prolapse. As you can read below, Herbert is questioning whether or not mitral valve prolapse is fatal.
Herbert writes, “Hi Adam! I am Herbert Ares, a pastor from the Philippines. I am 42 years old, married, with an eight year old son. [...]
I love a great teeth cleaning. You can ask Robyn (my wife)… She thinks I’m addicted to dental floss. That said, I was very interested to receive this question from Lynn.
Lynn writes, “I recently had open heart surgery to replace my mitral valve with a bovine valve. My cardiologist told me I could never use [...]
During the past week, I have received two emails from Ellen (in New York) and Paul (in California) about the new Trifecta heart valve replacement manufactured by St. Jude Medical.
So you know, I was not aware of the Trifecta heart valve. Nor did I know that a clinical trial was already underway with actual patients. [...]
As with any surgery, you or your caregiver should develop some form expectation about the potential success and failure rates of that surgery. This thought definitely applies to a complex heart surgery like aortic valve replacement.
That said, my family and I did LOTS of research before I decided that the Ross Procedure was the best [...]
As I remember all too well, once diagnosed with “needing heart valve surgery”, a series of foreign questions flood the patient’s brain. Those questions range from “What type of procedure should I chose?” to “Which surgeon should I go to?” to “Should I write or re-write my will?”
While these pre-surgery questions are acute, the post-operative [...]
According to ABC News, a New South Wales woman has become the first Australian to have a heart valve replaced without open heart surgery in a procedure that may revolutionize cardiac treatment for the frail and elderly.
In the minimally invasive procedure, a new aortic valve is attached to a long rod and fed through a [...]
Denise just asked me, “Do you know what are the most common complications after aortic valve replacement surgery? My dad is getting ready for surgery and I want to know what are the potential complications I should expect.”
According to a recent study, approximately 41% of heart valve surgery patients report that recovering from cardiac surgery [...]
Vivan has severe mitral regurgitation and is preparing for mitral valve replacement surgery. She is currently considering several different valve types (tissue, homograft, mechanical) and valve brands (Edwards, Medtronic and St. Jude Medical).
Vivian’s question to me is, “Adam - Can you tell me about the On-X valve for mitral valve replacement?”
For those of you who [...]