Which Surgeon To Choose?

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sparklette77

Hello, I am new to this forum and am planning to have mitral valve repair surgey in a few months. I have been to 4 surgeons and all they have all indicated that I should have surgery. I am trying to decide between two surgeons to actually perform the surgery and was wondering if anyone in this forum had any thoughts to share about either of them:

Dr. David H. Adams
Chairman of the Mount Sinai Cardiothoracic Surgery Dept
Specialist in Mitral Valve Repair
www.mitralvalverepair.org
He trained at Brigham and Women's Hospital

or

Dr. Michael Banbury
Chair of Cardiovascular Surgery at Christiana Care's Center for Heart & Vascular Health
Specializes in valve repair and replacement
http://www.christianacare.org/body.cfm?id=1218
He trained at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation


Any thoughts or opinions are greatly appreciated!

THanks!!
 
It would help if you could find some Doctors or other medical professionals who are actually familiar with the work and records of those 2 surgeons. (I know NOTHING of either of them).

It would be useful to know how many of the procedures YOU need / want and their Morbidity and Mortality Rates for that procedure. Personally, I would go with the guy who has the MOST EXPERIENCE doing what YOU need.

My IMPRESSIONS (from their websites) are as follows:

Mt. Sinai is a well known (and respected) hospital.
I never heard of the other (but then I live in Alabama).

Dr. Adams does give his overall Mortality Rate in his website. That strikes me as very Open and Honest.

Dr. Banbury's website is carefully worded with a lot of non-specific accolades. What exactly did he do at Cleveland Clinic? "He was a distinguished clinician and researcher for nine years at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation", finishing his TRAINING in 1997 (i.e. He's been on his own for 11 years).

Dr. Banbury mentions his hospital does 700 Open Heart Operations per year. So does MY Local Hospital. 90% of them are (relatively simple) Coronary Artery Bypass Procedures. How many Mitral Valve Repairs did he do last year? What were his results?

EXPERIENCE COUNTS !

'AL Capshaw'
 
Just offhand, since you said you will be having mitral valve repair surgery, and Dr. Adams is listed as a specialist in mitral valve repair surgery, I would deduce that he has the most experience with that particular surgery. But I say this not out of any personal knowledge; just from reading your post.

Hopefully, as Oaktree suggested, others will come along who have personal experience with one or both of those surgeons.

In any event, welcome to the forum, and I wish you well as you go forward.
 
Just out of curiosity I did a search on this website for David Adams and came up with the following group of posts: http://www.valvereplacement.com/forums/search.php?searchid=794195

I didn't read most of them but there was at least one person who planned to go to him based on his experience. There also was a reference to a mitral valve presentation he made at the Amer. Assn. of Thoracic Surgeons.

I didn't do a search for Banbury, but wanted to let you know that you can search both names on this site (as well as Google). On this site, you can search either threads or posts by key word. (I did posts - threads might yield more, not sure.) A search on this site will key you in to other people who have experience with the surgeon you're researching. You may, then, also want to follow up with a private message to the member who went to that surgeon.

Good luck!

Leah
 
Sparklette:

I had MV replacement 5 years ago and my husband had MV repair last year (no, it's not in the water at our house ;) we've been kidded about that -- see story in tag line under my post for details).

When we realized John needed MV surgery, we considered my surgeon. We threw in Dr. William Ryan for a 2nd consult. Dr. Ryan is in Dallas and does a large number of Ross procedures (aortic valve). However, through this website, I was able to talk to/e-mail several people whose MVs had been repaired by Dr. Ryan.
My husband was impressed with Dr. Ryan and chose him.
Dr. Ryan was able to use a right thoracotomy incision (heart port, port access, lots of names for it), going between the ribs instead of through the sternum.
 
Hi ~ I'm sorry, but i've never heard of either doctor, so i can't be of much help. I just wanted to welcome you to the site and wish you all the best at finding an excellent surgeon and having a successful surgery. Take care, Dawn-Marie
 
Pick the surgeon with the lowest golf handicap. That means a steady hand. Mine had a single digit handicap, and that was over seven years ago. No problems since
Hugo
 
See my thread on 5 year post op Mitral Valve repair. I think it would be a good idea to talk to Dr Galloway at NYU. He's head of Thorasic Surgery and invented the Future Band with Dr. Colvin.

Had a long talk with him today about NYU and my situation. It's likely I use him for my re repair or replacement in the future but I will also get one more opinion.
 
I'm not familiar with either of the surgeons you mentioned so I can't help you with your choice.

But I do want to wish you well with your upcoming surgery & let you know that you'll be in my prayers for a successful surgery. Take care!
 
Sparklette,

Have you learned any more about the surgeons of interest?

Have you made a selection?

Did any of our responses help you in your thought process?

"Curious minds want to know" :)

'AL Capshaw'
 
Hi,

I used Karl Krieger he is in NY Presbyterian. I had not one complication, no pain. He promised I would not remember or care that I woke up with the tube. He was right. He did Regis Philbin and David Letterman. They had bypass, but he specializes in valve replacement. NY Presbyterian is rated 4th (I believe) in heart hospitals. Three different nurses ICU nurses recommended him to me. I am very happy with my results. There is also 2 others from this group that used him and were very happy.


Good Luck with your search.

xoxo
Just
KathyM
 
KathyM said:
Hi,

I used Karl Krieger he is in NY Presbyterian. I had not one complication, no pain. He promised I would not remember or care that I woke up with the tube. He was right. He did Regis Philbin and David Letterman. They had bypass, but he specializes in valve replacement. NY Presbyterian is rated 4th (I believe) in heart hospitals. Three different nurses ICU nurses recommended him to me. I am very happy with my results. There is also 2 others from this group that used him and were very happy.


Good Luck with your search.

xoxo
Just
KathyM
Click to expand...

What did you have done? Mitral Valve replacement? Glad it went well!
 
I had an aortic replacement. I do know that Dr. Krieger does just as many mitral valves.

It has been 4 months and I feel great. I really did right from the begining. I saw my cardio the other day and he was amazed at how well I am doing also and said it wasn't even the 6th month mark yet. I am very lucky it went so easy. The anticipation is much worse then the surgery, at least that is how I feel.

xoxo
KathyM
 
back the man

back the man

the first and only surgeon i saw is an international expert in mitral valve repair ( yes, we have such people in little new zealand ) he seemed ok to me. i asked my gp about him and asked if i should get more opinions.

the gp said that everytime i see another surgeon, i would get a diferent opinion and i would end up not knowing if i was comming or going.
so i ran with the first and only surgeon i saw and have no regrets.

what i am trying to say is that eventually you will have to decide on a surgeon and then you simply have to back him 100% and believe in him. you can not do it by statistics.

and do not be dogmatic about mortality rates; the guy with higher mortality rates may be the surgeon, like mine, who feels a professional obligation to help everyone, regardless of how risky the operation is. surely such a surgeon is better than the guy who only takes the easy cases.

also, like i found out, no matter what you are told, there is no guarantee that your mitral valve can be SUCCESSFULLY repaired. you need a surgeon with a plan b who has the honesty to implement it if the attempted repair is not 100% ( you do not want another ohs after a few years )

and make sure you participate in the decison about the mechanical valve for plan b
 
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