Adam's Heart Valve Surgery Blog – Page 38

I just received an interesting question from Norman, who is preparing for his second heart surgery.

In his email, Norman writes to me, “Hi Adam — Is it feasible to correct Atrial Fibrillation (A-Fib) which I’ve had for 5 years since my first, quintuple bypass surgery. I am due to have an aortic valve replacement, mitral valve repair, another bypass graft and Maze procedure for A-Fib . Some reports say Atrial Fibrillation cannot be fixed after 3 years? Thanks, Norman”

To provide Norman an appropriate answer, I contacted Doctor Marc Gerdisch, MD, the Chairman of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery at St. Francis Heart Center in Indianapolis, Indiana. Doctor Gerdisch, who has performed over 1,500 heart valve procedures, specializes in mitral valve repair and atrial fibrillation treatment.

Dr. Marc Gerdisch

In the first part of his response, Dr. Gerdisch identified Norman’s condition and potential treatment options:

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On behalf of Ethan (my son) and Robyn (my wife), I wanted to wish all of the patients, caregivers, doctors, nurses, cardiac centers and medical device manufacturers, a very Happy Thanksgiving!

So you know, this is my favorite holiday. I love the food — especially the turkey, the stuffing and the pumpkin pie. I love the time with our family and friends. I love the football. I love watching movies with Ethan and Robyn. Most importantly, I love the quiet time I spend reflecting on all the goodness in our lives. Each year, this website becomes a bigger part of that goodness. That said, thank you for being a part of this extraordinary community.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our friends!!!
Adam

P.S. The picture above was taken during last Halloween. Ethan is still a “Buzz Lightyear” fanatic. This was the second consecutive year that Ethan was Buzz, Robyn was Jessie and I was Woody from the Toy Story movies. 🙂

Great news!!!

Last week, over 150 patients and caregivers registered for a special online webinar titled, “Advancements in Aortic Valve Surgery”. During the event, Dr. Charles Davidson and Dr. Chris Malaisrie discussed transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), a new technology for aortic valve replacement that requires no incision to the patient’s sternum.

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This Wednesday, November 7th, I am going to host a live, online webinar titled, “Advancements in Aortic Valve Surgery”with Dr. Davidson and Dr. Malaisrie from Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Already, over 100 patients have registered for this webinar! Given the exciting topic of this educational event, I have received several questions about the webinar from our community. To help you learn more, I have provided below the top five questions about this webinar below.

1. Is The Webinar Free To Attend?

Yes. The webinar is free for all attendees.

2. Can I Still Register For The Webinar?

Yes. Registration is still available. To register, click here.

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There’s nothing better than opening an email and reading a patient success story.

That said, here’s a great update from Leo Hernandez. As you might recall, I first posted about Leo in 2009 after his bicuspid aortic valve was replaced Doctor Richard Shemin, MD at UCLA in Los Angeles. In his email, Leo writes to me:

Leo Hernandez – Aortic Valve Replacement Patient

Dear Adam,

Thanks for using my picture with Dr. Shemin on your October 19 issue of your newsletter. To let you know, it’s been now 3 years and 9 months since my aortic valve replacement by Dr. Richard Shemin on January 6, 2009.

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Amazing news!

Earlier this week, I announced our upcoming educational webinar titled, “Advancements in Aortic Valve Surgery”. Since that announcement, over 100 patients and caregivers have registered for the event that will feature Dr. Davidson and Dr. Malaisrie of Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

If you would like to attend the event — which is scheduled for next Wednesday at 12pm CST.

I look forward to speaking with you live next Wednesday!

Keep on tickin!
Adam

While reading through your questions submitted for the Heart Valve Summit, I noticed several patients asking about treating mitral valve disease and atrial fibrillation at the same time.

For that reason, I met with Dr. Harold Roberts, a very experienced valve surgeon. Here are the highlights from our discussion. (If you are hearing impaired, I have provided a written transcript of this video below.)

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I am excited to announce that we will be hosting a Live Educational Webinar about the latest advancements in aortic valve surgery including transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). The webinar — which is free for all patients and caregivers — will be held on Wednesday, November 7 from 12pm-1pm CST.

As you may know, TAVI devices enable cardiologists and surgeons to replace diseased aortic valves without any incision to the patient’s sternum.

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I just received a great question from Anne. In her note, Anne writes, “How long can a patient expect to feel their heart beating so strongly after heart valve replacement surgery?”

To answer Anne’s question, I was fortunate to meet with Rawn Salenger, MD, Director of Heart Valve Surgery at Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern, New York. Here are the highlights from our discussion. For the patients and caregivers in our community who are hearing impaired, you will find a written transcript of this video below.

Thanks to Anne for her question and a special thanks to Dr. Rawn Salenger for sharing his clinical experiences with our community.

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As we continue to monitor the roll-out of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) technologies, I just learned about a recent study for the CoreValve.

Medtronic CoreValve TAVI Device

Medtronic, the manufacturer of the CoreValve, just announced encouraging data for the device which is (i) commercially available in Europe and (ii) in clinical trials in the United States.

Data published from the study showed that:

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Prior to the Heart Valve Summit, I received over 70 patient questions for the doctors at the conference. In her question, Kim asked, “Hi Adam, I have a bicuspid aortic valve with a valve size of .6 and a gradient of 80. When can I expect to have surgery?”

To answer Kim’s question, I was very fortunate to meet and interview Dr. Robert Bonow, who is a Past President of The American Heart Association and current Professor of Cardiology at Northwestern University. I have posted a written transcript of this video (below) for the patients and caregivers who are hearing impaired.

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Patient interest specific to transcatheter aortic valve implantation is very, very, very high. However, patients with mitral valve disorders, including mitral regurgitation, are wondering, “What about me? Are there any catheter-based solutions for mitral valve surgery?”

To answer that question, I interviewed Doctor Steven Bolling at the Heart Valve Summit. So you know, Dr. Bolling is the Director of the Mitral Valve Clinic at the University of Michigan. During his career, Dr. Bolling has performed over 3,000 mitral valve procedures. (If you are hearing impaired, a written transcript of this interview is provided below.)

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Leading up to the Heart Valve Summit, I received an interesting question from Jim. He asked,  “Adam – What is the likely progression of systolic anterior motion of the chordae?”

To answer Jim’s question, I met with Doctor David Adams, MD, one of the Program Directors of the Heart Valve Summit and the Chairman of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Mount Sinai Medical Center. The highlights of our discussion are featured in this video. Also, for the patients and caregivers in our community who are hearing impaired, I have provided a written transcript of this conversation below.

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I’ve said it before and, hopefully, I will be saying it again…. I love hearing from the patients in our community after their surgeries!

This time, Shelly Gould, from Redding, California, sent me a collage of her first anniversary from mitral valve repair. Doctor Luis Castro from Sequoia Heart & Vascular Institute performed Shelly’s surgery.

Congratulations to Shelly!!!

Keep on tickin!
Adam

I’m just returning home to Los Angeles after spending the past few days at the Heart Valve Summit in Chicago. This special event brings together leading cardiologists and surgeons to discuss the optimum treatment of valve disease. Needless to say, the event was… Amazing!

In the near future, I will be posting several videos filmed during the event. However, in the meantime, here are some pictures that I took at the Heart Valve Summit. Here’s a picture of the Grand Ballrooom that was filled with over 400 physicians during the conference.

I was lucky to reconnect with Doctor David Adams, MD, the Program Director of the Heart Valve Summit, and Gideon Sims, the Senior Director, Information Technology & Web Strategy at Mount Sinai.

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Starting tomorrow, I’ll be at the Heart Valve Summit in Chicago, Illinois. During the conference, I will be very fortunate to meet with several physicians that specialize in heart valve treatment including Dr. McCarthy, Dr. Chitwood, Dr. Bolling and Dr. Adams.

Do you have any questions about your diagnosis, your symptoms, the different types of valve surgery or anything else? If so, please scroll below or email me at adam@heartvalvesurgery.com.

As shown on our videos page, your question may be featured in a live video interview that will be featured at our website.

Keep on tickin!
Adam

Good news!

Holy Cross Hospital in Fort Lauderdale, Florida just launched a new Heart Valve Clinic Microsite in the Valve Clinics section of our website. Using this microsite, the patients and caregivers within our community can quickly learn about Holy Cross Hospital and its team of cardiologists and surgeons that specialize in heart valve therapy.

On behalf of our community, many thanks to Dr. Harold Roberts, Dr. Vicente Font, Dr. Alan Niederman, Dr. Joshua Purow, Dr. Irving David, Dr. David Llanos, Chloe Lebron and Christine Moncrieffe for their support of this project!

To see the Holy Cross Hospital Heart Valve Clinic Microsite, please click here.

Keep on tickin!
Adam

I recently received a great question from Kerrigan about heart murmurs after heart valve surgery. In his email, Kerrigan writes, “Hi Adam – I had aortic valve replacement with a porcine valve three years ago. Since the valve replacement, I’ve had a detectible murmur that has not changed since the first, post-op baseline echocardiogram. Is it common to have a murmur after heart valve surgery?”

To answer Kerrigan’s question, I met with Dr. Luis Castro, MD, the Medical Director of Sequoia Heart Institute. During his career, Dr. Castro has performed over 3,000 heart valve procedures. You can see the highlights of our discussion in this video. For the patients in our community who are hearing impaired, I have provided a transcript below.

I hope this video helped Kerrigan (and perhaps you) learn a little more about heart murmurs after valve surgery.

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Good news!

The educational seminar I recently spoke at went great. The seminar, “For People with Heart Murmurs”, was well attended and very interactive. After I shared my story, Doctor Junaid Khan provided the patients an overview of heart murmurs and the common forms of heart valve disease including mitral regurgitation and aortic stenosis.

Doctor Khan then discussed the different types of heart valve therapies. In closing, Dr. Khan shared some very interesting data about newer surgical techniques including minimally invasive approaches using port-access (also known as mini-thoracotomy) and transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI).

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In case you missed it… The Sorin Group, a leading manufacturer of heart valve replacement devices, recently announced that its Perceval Sutureless Heart Valve Replacement device received a CE Mark for extended indications in Europe.

Prior to this announcement, the Perceval was limited to patients who were 75 years or older.  Now, the Perceval can be used on patients with severe aortic stenosis that are over the age of 65.

If this is your first time hearing of the Perceval sutureless aortic valve replacement device, you may want to know the following:

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