Great news everybody!!! Several weeks ago, I learned that our $5,000 donation to the Gift of Life was going to help pay for the heart surgery of Victor Saravia, a 14-month old baby boy from El Salvador. Today, I’m very happy to report that Victor is doing incredibly well after his complex heart surgery. Rob Raylman, a [...]

As Dr. Allan Stewart wrote to me, “We did it!” “It” was the New York City triathlon. Dr. Allan Stewart (Surgeon) with Greg O’Keeffe (His Patient) The “We” was… Dr. Allan Stewart, Director of the Aortic Valve Surgery Program at New York-Presbyterian Hospital / Columbia Medical Center, and Greg O’Keeffe, Dr. Stewart’s patient who had aortic valve replacement just [...]

Similar to its mitral regurgitation tool, The Cleveland Clinic just announced a new, online program to help patients and caregivers determine their need for cardiac surgery relative to aortic stenosis. Here is a snippet from their website about the interactive, aortic stenosis tool: “Is surgery recommended for your aortic stenosis? This interactive tool, based on the American [...]

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 [...]

I just received a great question from Diane about heart valve replacements. Diane writes, “Adam – Yesterday, I was diagnosed with severe mitral regurgitation. My cardiologist said I should start planning on having my heart valve replaced soon. I’m confused by all of this. One thing I can’t figure out is where will the new valve [...]

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This is a special guest blog by Greg O’Keeffe. I thought you might really appreciate hearing about Greg’s recovery, Dr. Stewart’s unique connection with his patients, and their combined athletic and charitable efforts. Here is what Greg wrote me: Dear Adam, The first time I teamed up with Dr. Allan Stewart, I was in an operating room [...]

This past Wednesday, Dr. Eric Roselli, a leading heart surgeon from The Cleveland Clinic, hosted an exclusive internet chat with our patient and caregiver community. Thanks to your questions and your participation, this was a very active and educational chat that is now available in a written transcript. To download the official transcript (in pdf format), [...]

For those of you following the heart valve replacement recovery of Barbara Walters… I just learned that Barbara Walters will appear on “The View” this Monday, July 12, eight weeks after surgery. According to reports, the 80-year old recipient of an aortic valve replacement, will appear – via video – briefly during the show founded by [...]

This is an exciting time for the medical treatment of diseased heart valves. As demonstrated in prior blogs, unique technologies are rapidly evolving to correct heart valve disorders including aortic stenosis and mitral regurgitation. That said, conversations specific to minimally invasive heart valve procedures often stimulate exciting clinical and patient possibilities. Dr. Husam Balkhy – Chairman [...]