I just received an interesting question from Jenny about the size of a mechanical heart valve replacement.
Jenny writes to me, “Adam – Like many patients on your blog, I’m preparing for aortic valve replacement. I’m young, 29, with a bicuspid aortic valve that has severe stenosis. I’m thinking a mechanical valve is the best option [...]

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When two, leading heart valve surgeons come together at an established cardiac care program, the expectations for success are high.
That said, it shouldn’t surprise you that Dr. David Adams and Dr. Paul Stelzer have transformed this hypothetical situation into reality at The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.

Dr. Paul Stelzer, Me (Adam) & Dr. [...]

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Recently, I was extremely lucky to observe Dr. Saibal Kar and his team perform its 103rd MitraClip procedure on a patient with severe mitral regurgitation at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, California.

Dr. Saibal Kar And Me In The Cath Lab At Cedars-Sinai

While I expected to watch the procedure from a gallery – much [...]

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I just received this insightful email from Steve, who recently had heart valve surgery. I thought you might really enjoy it… So, here it is:

Steve Miller -Heart Valve Replacement Patient
Dear Adam -  Congratulations on getting that article published in The Chicago Tribune! Also, thank you for writing such an informative and helpful book. I [...]

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Several weeks ago, I shared the touching story of William Luna’s high risk valve repair. Shortly thereafter, I received several emails about minimally-invasive procedures and Dr. Jai Raman — the surgeon who performed William’s procedure.

Dr. Jai Raman – Heart Surgeon, University Of Chicago

Given your interest in these topics, I contacted Dr. Raman and requested an [...]

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I just received an interesting question from Karen about teeth and heart valve surgery.
Karen writes to me, “Adam – Next month, I’m going in for valve replacement due to aortic stenosis. I’ve been watching my valve slowly deteriorate over the past 10 years, so I’ve had time to mentally and physically prepare for the procedure. [...]

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I just received a question about tricuspid valve surgery from Eva. She writes, “Adam – Can tricuspid valves be as easily repaired as mitral valves?”
To help answer Eva’s question, I just found a great video from Dr. Lishan Aklog, chief of cardiovascular surgery and chair of the Cardiovascular Center at the Heart & [...]

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I just received a very interesting question from Nina about robotic heart valve repair and the heart-lung machine (also known as the “pump”).

Heart-Lung Machine Diagram
Nina writes, “Hi Adam - I’ve been reading your blog and patient comments about thoracotomy versus sternotomy for mitral valve repair. But, I have not found a similar [...]

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Ted just sent me a very appropriate question about mitral valve stenosis.
He writes, “Adam - I’ll be going in for mitral valve surgery due to stenosis next month. I’m doing my best to cope with the reality of open heart surgery. Quick question… Do you know what mitral valve stenosis looks like? Thanks for everything, [...]

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Earlier this week, I spoke with Dr. Giovanni Ciuffo, a minimally invasive and bloodless heart surgery specialist, at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. (As you may remember, Dr. Ciuffo wrote “Aortic Stenosis… The Neglected Child”.)

Dr. Giovanni Ciuffo, Heart Surgeon, Mount Sinai Hospital

During our discussion, Dr. Ciuffo shared several clinical insights about traditional, median sternotomy [...]

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