Anyone had Mitral Valve Repair at WakeMed in Raleigh?

[scg]

Trying to make a choice between Duke & WakeMed. Really liked the WakeMed surgeon who explained everything to me in great detail. Duke was very efficient and spent lots of time with me as well...probably has more experience with the slightly less invasive procedure whereas WakeMed prefers to have full access..ie full sternotomy. Wanting to do make sure I have a doctor that has done many repairs. The WakeMed doctor has done 4 MVR's this year. Would really like to be closer to home, although Duke is just down the road. My feedback is that once the Duke surgeon is done with you, you are passed off to residents, and that less invasive procedure through the rib cage isn't a sure thing. WakeMed also doesn't do the groin access for heart/lung machine, but rather through the aorta near the heart....thus the full sternotomy. I'm 51 and feel fine, but needing to do this soon before AFib becomes an issue. I've found I almost have too many choices. Probably a good thing, but makes it difficult.

51 year old male.
Mitral Valve Prolapse

 

[Glen Swan]

I don't have any issues with my valves, but my 1-month year old son has CoA (narrowing of the aorta) and BAV (bicuspid aortic valve) that was diagnosed at 10 days old. He was diagnosed by WakeMed and moved to UNC Children's Hospital where he had his surgery performed by one awesome surgeon that specializes in pediatric cardiology for 25 years.

Although I can't provide any good insight on what hospital is better in the triangle, I heard on the radio the other day about another hospital that specializes in heart/valve repair/replacements. I can't think of the name offhand, but they were going off on how they have the best heart docs in the area and do a large number of surgeries. I'm sure if you do some digging, you can find out who they are and maybe look into their history.

I would personally do research on both procedures and talk to your cardiologist about it further. Ideally, it may not just come down to who is better, but what procedure is right for you. And to be honest, both are good hospitals, but I believe Duke has a higher rating than WakeMed in a number of areas simply because Duke has a long history on top of being almost an ivy league school.

Cheers!

P.S

I'm from Morrisville

 

[scg]

I'm very familiar with all the local hospitals that promote their heart centers. Duke, WakeMed, Rex, and ECU all claim the latest and greatest. I'm familiar enough with WakeMed to feel comfortable with the hospital, but hoped that I might find a heart valve repair patient that could give me their experience. Thanks for the info.

 

[ejc61]

As I thought about which technique to go with, I originally was going to go with a heart port mini right thoracotomy, i.e, thru the right ribs. Then I gave consideration to robotic. Both looked good. My surgeon does alot of robotic repairs and my wife nurse liked the fact that it was a little less invasive. There is alot more invasion through the chest that has nothing to do with the repair and thus a more painful recovery. A full sternotomy was never even considered by either surgeon provided I didn't have anything else going on. Both surgeons at different hospitals with different techniques both said that their view was going to be very good. Good luck and take your time with a decision if time allows. BTW, I was asympthomatic and was 47 at the time.

 

[Glen Swan]

I'm very familiar with all the local hospitals that promote their heart centers. Duke, WakeMed, Rex, and ECU all claim the latest and greatest. I'm familiar enough with WakeMed to feel comfortable with the hospital, but hoped that I might find a heart valve repair patient that could give me their experience. Thanks for the info.

This was not any of those local hospitals. It was something else, I would almost say it was a Christan Hospital or Practice that specializes in heart surgeries and repairs. They claimed to have the best and do the most surgeries in North Carolina. I dono if that's just talk, but if you can find their name, it might be worth looking into in terms of your surgery.

 

[Mom2izzy]

I had a mitral valve repair on 2/28 via a mini-sternotomy (6 inches or so). The only pain meds I've been on since I left the hospital on day 5 post op are acetominophen and some ibuprofen for the first couple days. At 4 weeks, I rarely take anything for pain. I find the best pain relief comes from exercise. I do have some muscle pain in my back and shoulders that may not be there if I had chosen a different approach. My surgeon also gave me the option of the "through the ribs" approach; however, I heard that was actually more painful because they have to go through muscle that is stretched with every breath. My surgeon advised against the robotic approach because he feels the actual tactile sensation is important when performing a repair. He feels there really is no such thing as "minimally invasive" open heart surgery...by definition opening the heart is "invasive". My point is that I didn't have much pain with the approach that some feel would be the MOST painful. I chose a surgeon that I was comfortable with based on his experience and his personality and let him determine the best approach. I felt he was more qualified than I was to make that decision.

That really probably didn't answer your question, but was the long way to say...interview surgeons at each place and go with your gut.

 

[ejc61]

One of the things to keep in mind is how much rehab is required with each approach. In my case, I technically had no rehab. I only went back to the hospital when I had a case of plueral effusion which can happen with any technique.

 

[Lynlw]

This was not any of those local hospitals. It was something else, I would almost say it was a Christan Hospital or Practice that specializes in heart surgeries and repairs. They claimed to have the best and do the most surgeries in North Carolina. I dono if that's just talk, but if you can find their name, it might be worth looking into in terms of your surgery.

I don't know if this helps, http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/area/raleigh-durham-nc/specialty but US news now ranks hospitals by best in the area. it is also broken down by specialties so you can see who is ranked nationally by specialty, or who is high performing in the area or who isn't ranked at all then you can check out the criteria and how that hospital did in the different catagories. etc