“Ask Adam Anything” Gets Amazing Patient Response at STS!
Written By: Adam Pick, Patient Advocate, Author & Website Founder
Published: January 28, 2024
Dear Patients, Doctors & Friends,
I am downright overwhelmed by the recent response to our “Ask Adam Anything” event at the 60th Annual Meeting of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) in San Antonio, Texas!
As you might recall… Last Friday, I posted a request for patient questions about heart valve disease management and treatment. Within minutes of posting, my inbox started to light up with fascinating patient questions. Then, a tsunami of patient questions flooded my inbox. I spent most of Friday night going through the patient questions in preparation for the all-day “Ask Me Anything” session at STS. To answer your questions, we invited ten leading leading heart valve surgeons to join us for this special event.
For example, here is long-time supporter of HeartValveSurgery.com, Dr. Chris Malaisrie, who is an aortic valve and aortic aneurysm specialist at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, Illinois. We were also joined by Megan Melia and Hope Challenger who support many patient education and social media initiatives at the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute at Northwestern Medicine. Dr. Malaisrie answered patient questions from Jeff, DB, Mark and Ron about aneurysm progression, transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) for aortic regurgitation, and aneurysms after aortic valve replacement.
That is Dr. Sabet Hashim (middle), the Chairman of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Hartford HealthCare, and Dr. Robert Hagberg (left), an aortic valve and aneurysm specialist at Hartford HealthCare. Dr. Hashim answered questions from Ron and Sharon about mitral valve re-repair approaches, patient outcomes and minimally-invasive techniques.
From Indianapolis, Indiana… Here is Dr. Marc Gerdisch, who is the Chief of Cardiac Surgery at Franciscan Health. Dr. Gerdisch answered several questions from Joe, Brad and Kelly about atrial cardiomyopathy, rigid sternal fixation, and ventilator removal in the intensive care unit.
That is heart valve guru, Dr. Patrick McCarthy, who is the Executive Director of the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute at Northwestern Medicine, along with Katie Bal, who manages sponsor programs for HeartValveSurgery.com. Dr. McCarthy answered questions from Bruce and many other patients about mitral annular calcification (MAC), stroke risks, calcium supplements and new guidelines for atrial fibrillation treatment during heart valve surgery.
I was very fortunate to meet Dr. Brent New, the Chief of Cardiac Surgery at Methodist Health in San Antonio, Texas. During the filming, Dr. New answered a patient question from Michael about the future of TAVR.
Yes! That is Dr. Junaid Khan, a leading minimally-invasive mitral valve surgeon from Alta Bates Summit in Oakland, California. Dr. Khan answered questions from Courtney, Erica and Sheree about minimally-invasive mitral valve re-replacement, watchful waiting and asymptomatic heart valve disease.
At long last, I was very lucky to meet and interview Dr. G. Michael Deeb, a professor and aortic valve specialist from University of Michigan Health in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Our conversations answered many patient questions about TAVR performance, patient candidacy, durability, and new clinical trial data.
That is Dr. Nicholas Lopez, a leading cardiac surgeon at Baptist Health Paducah in Paducah, Kentucky. Dr. Lopez addressed several patient questions from Charlie, Valerie and Laura about aortic valve sizing and aortic valve replacement recovery recommendations.
Last but not least… We connected with Dr. Doug Johnston, the Chief of Cardiac Surgery at Northwestern Medicine. Dr. Johnston answered questions from Joanne, Sandy and Sabetai about survival rates for sternotomy versus minimally-invasive approaches, bicuspid aortic valve stenosis progression, and endocarditis infections resulting from dental work.
What Happens Next?
The next step in the “Ask Adam Anything” experience is that our team will edit the 20+ educational videos filmed at STS. We will then have the videos transcribed for the hearing impaired members of our community and finally we will syndicate the videos across the HeartValveSurgery.com Social Media Platform.
If you would like to receive all the educational content from the “Ask Adam Anything” event, please click here to subscribe to my free newsletter.
Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!
I want to extend a mighty thank you to all the wonderful patients who participated in the “Ask Adam Anything” event at STS! I was so happy to receive so many great patient questions. I realize that we did not answer every patient question. However, please note that we will put all the unanswered questions into our educational queue so that we can address those questions in the future.
I would also like to thank the amazing surgeons who participated in this special event! As a community, we cannot thank you enough for your support of this educational initiative and the care you provide for heart valve patients!
Keep on tickin!
Adam
Written by Adam Pick
- Patient & Website Founder
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Dr. Doolabh is a leading cardiac surgeon at UT Southwestern who specializes in minimally-invasive heart valve surgery.
