There is nothing better than waking up, enjoying a cup of coffee, turning on the computer and finding a patient success story in my inbox.
Today, I received a patient success story all the way from Portugal. It’s about Filomeno Faustino’s recent aortic valve replacement with a Carbomedics Top Hat mechanical device. Here is what Filomeno [...]

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I recently met Dr. Giovanni Ciuffo, a cardiac surgeon at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. Although it was our first time chatting, I really enjoyed learning about Dr. Ciuffo’s practice which specializes in minimally-invasive heart valve surgery and, at times, bloodless surgery.

Dr. Giovanni Ciuffo
During our conversation, Dr. Ciuffo mentioned an article he just [...]

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I just received an interesting email from Tammy that touches on heart valve surgery, atrial fibrillation and the MAZE procedure.
Tammy writes, “Adam - Like a couple of your readers (Mark, Patrick and Anita), my doctor has suggested that I need a combo operation that includes a mitral valve repair due to regurg and a Maze [...]

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In case you missed it, there was a very interesting announcement yesterday about Medtronic’s minimally invasive heart valve replacement, known as the Melody heart valve. Here are the highlights…
U.S. regulators have approved Medtronic Inc’s minimally invasive heart valve, one of the first replacement valves that can be implanted via a catheter rather than open-heart surgery.

Medtronic’s [...]

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I just received an interesting email from Sandy which addresses a key point and warning for patients - especially women. That said, I thought you might like to learn more about Sandy’s heart valve surgery experience. Here is what she wrote to me:
Dear Adam,
I am a 52-year old female. I had a mitral valve prolapse [...]

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Carol just sent me an email that touches on a common, patient challenge prior to surgery… fear.
In her note she writes, “Adam - Next week I am scheduled for surgery due to severe mitral regurgitation resulting from a prolapsed valve. I’ve known about this for over 15 years but I can’t believe the time is [...]

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In the past, we’ve discussed how patients, like Sylvia Woolworth, got physically and mentally fit prior to heart valve surgery. Specific to this topic, I recently opened an email from Dr. Michael Baity, a retired dentist from Michigan. Dr. Baity just had aortic valve replacement surgery at the Cleveland Clinic. Here is what he wrote [...]

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I just received an interesting question from Regina about heart valve repair surgery. Her question focuses on the use of annuloplasty rings to treat leaky heart valves.
Regina writes, “Hi Adam - Although I’m 58, I was recently diagnosed with mitral regurgitation. My cardiologist thinks I may need surgery in the next year. The disease is [...]

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Some may call David’s story ironic. I call it fantastic! That said, I thought you might find this very unique story of interest. Here is what David wrote to me:
Hi Adam,
I just had my calcified aortic bicuspid valve replaced with an Edwards Lifesciences pericardial (bovine) valve on October 28, 2009. I also had a single [...]

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Here is some great patient advice from David about (i) treating heart valve disorders in a timely fashion and (ii) being your own, best patient advocate. David wrote to me:
Hi Adam,
I’m a 55-year old man living in Maine. I just underwent aortic valve and ascending aorta replacement surgery on November 10, 2009.
I’m writing you for [...]

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