Confused

[mjd414]

I am scheduled to have AVR on 7/14 with a mechanical valve being the surgeons weapon of choice. I also have an appointment tomorrow afternoon at Cleveland Clinic Florida to talk to a surgeon who likes the mini invasive route.....I'm told that it is best to have the surgeon see and work on the entire heart instead of limiting the range of vision on the valve itself......anyone have a handle on the real scoop!

Thanks

 

[Phyllis]

There are quite a few threads in this forum on the minimally invasive technique - see: presurgery, "a godsend" for one. There is also a video of the procedure on the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston website:http://www.brighamandwomens.org/ My husband had an AVR in December, 2003 with Dr. Lawrence Cohn at Brigham and has had a remarkable recovery. Cleveland and Brigham are two of the hospitals that do this procedure routinely when there are no arteries involved. We opted for the mini after getting a second opinion and we are glad that we did - do your research and keep all your options open. Those hospitals and doctors that do it are big promotors and those who don't tend to be negative about it, but we found it to be the best choice we could have made!

 

[McCln]

There has been a lot of discussion on this procedure in the cardio-vascular surgeon world on the mini invasive technique. Most have said that it is not recommened for Aortic valve replacement due to the location and placement of he heart during surgery. But if this surgeon has come up with a procedure for aortic valve replacement, let us know for sure. We will pray for you and good luck with the visit.

Caroline
09-13-01
Aortic valve replacement
St. Jude's valve