Adam's Heart Valve Surgery Blog – Page 39

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 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

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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Hearing from you — the patients and caregivers of our community — continues to be my favorite part of running this website. That said, I just received a great patient success story from Jeff Adams of Seattle, Washington.

In his email, Jeff wrote to me:

Jeff Adams – Mitral Valve Repair Patient

I learned that I had mitral valve regurgitation in March of this year.  It came as a complete surprise!  As a fit, 48 year old male in excellent health, I assumed I had at least 17+ years before I had to worry about my own cardiac issues.  Though my team of cardiologists in the Seattle area were up for the task of a complex mitral valve repair, Dr. Steven Bolling was the only surgeon I spoke with that had absolute confidence in himself and his team to get the job done AS A REPAIR without concern that he would have to resort to a replacement valve.

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Hi everybody,

I just wanted to remind the patients and caregivers in Northern California that I will be speaking at “For People With Heart Murmurs”, an educational seminar hosted by Dr. Junaid Khan and Alta Bates Summit Medical Center on Tuesday night. At the conclusion of the event, all attendees will receive a free signed copy of my book.

To reserve your spot, please call Ellen at 510-869-6737 or email carrole@sutterhealth.org. Here’s the invitation for the event:

I look forward to seeing you in Oakland!

Keep on tickin!
Adam

As a technology enthusiast, I really enjoy monitoring the new devices impacting heart valve therapy.

That said, I thought you might want to learn about the CoreValve, a new transcatheter aortic valve replacement device for patients with aortic stenosis (a narrow heart valve). As you can see in this video post, the CoreValve replaces a diseased aortic valve without any incision to the patient’s sternum or ribs.

Last week, Medtronic, the manufacturer of the CoreValve, announced the following:

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I’m very happy to announce that Dr. Edwin C. McGee, Jr., a cardiac surgeon from Loyola University Medical Center in Chicago, has been named the ‘Featured Surgeon’ at HeartValveSurgery.com.

Dr. Edwin McGee – Heart Surgeon

As you may have already seen, Dr. McGee has performed successful heart valve surgery on several patients in our community including – Michael McKeon and Maria Leibold.

Michael McKeon, a former aortic valve replacement patient, stated, “I don’t overstate the facts here – Dr. McGee and his supporting team of doctors and nurses saved my life.”

Interestingly, Dr. McGee recently performed an innovative procedure where one ventricular assist device (VAD) was implanted into each ventricle of the patient’s heart, known as biventricular configuration or BiVAD, until a donor heart became available.

• To learn more about Dr. McGee, please click here.

Keep on tickin!
Adam

As many of you have shared in this blog and our online community, the process of being diagnosed with heart valve disease can be an isolating experience. So you know, that is why I started this website five years ago. I wanted to connect patients with similar disorders so that we could learn from, relate to and empower each other.

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Great news!!!

You’re invited to a special event titled, “Important Information for People with Heart Murmurs”. This educational event will be hosted by Alta Bates Summit Medical Center at the Lafayette Library in Oakland, California on Tuesday, September 18 at 6:30 pm (PST). To attend the community session, please call (510) 869-6737.

I have to admit… I feel very, very, very honored to be included as a speaker at this event. Along with Dr. Junaid Khan, a heart valve specialist, we will discuss the causes, the symptoms and the treatment of heart valve disease.

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I’ll never forget my 3-week check-up when Dr. Starnes, my heart surgeon, said to me, “Adam, the post-operative echocardiogram shows that your heart is doing excellent… Plus, we wrapped your pulmonary valve during the procedure, so you should benefit from that over time.” In the moment, I didn’t question Dr. Starnes about my wrapped pulmonary valve. To be honest, I didn’t care. I just wanted to hear that my heart was doing well after my double heart valve replacement surgery.

Wrapped Pulmonary Valve Used During Ross Procedure

However, as the community at HeartValveSurgery.com grew, I received several patient questions about “valve wrapping techniques” used during the Ross Procedure, a unique form or aortic valve replacement surgery. For that reason, I contacted Dr. Paul Stelzer, a Ross Procedure specialist at Mount Sinai Medical Center, to discuss this surgical innovation.

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