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I had a bicuspid valve and severe regurgitation prior to surgery. The decision to operate was based on the size of my left ventricle but I certainly had been getting very tired for at least six months before surgery. The non-medical description of my valve was "floppy." The cusps simply...

I had a repair done on my aortic valve 8 years ago and was one of the first to receive an annuloplasty ring at the base of the valve. My cardiologist says everything is so stable he only wants me to get an echo every three years. I'm 59 and he thinks I may never need another surgery. At this...

Easter Rat, you should be able to have a great repair done in Canada. When I was doing my research I found that surgeons in Toronto were among the leaders in continuing to develop aortic valve repair. That likely carries over into the entire Canadian system, perhaps in part because it makes...

Hi Stephans, I had my aortic valve repaired about 4 years ago by Dr. Hartzell Schaff at the Mayo Clinic. He is pretty well known for recommending mechanical valves for almost everyone at every age, but for me he said a valve repair was the best option. He said I should expect at least 12 years...

The Cleveland Clinic would be fine for a repair, as would the Mayo Clinic and the University of Pennsylvania. It is a complex operation with lots of sutures being placed on cusps which still have to move 100,00 times a day, so it does take a special surgeon to make it work. There may be other...

I also found the Mayo presentation to be very good, but the presenter, Hartzell Schaff, was my surgeon and for me he recommended an aortic valve repair over a mechanical valve. I was a little surprised, because he said I could count on getting 12 years from it - possibly more. That seemed a...

I was on 100 mg/day for a number of months after surgery in April. I then went down to 75 for a while and am now on 50 mg/day. Each time I stepped the dosage down I actually felt worse for almost a week. It scared me somewhat, because I so wanted to blame my afternoon exhaustion on the beta...

Amy R, glad your doing well. I had my aortic valve repaired about two months before you. I feel great and am basically back to normal. Just remember you still have a bicuspid aortic valve, but one that works better than it did. I agree with Superman and I make sure I can breath easily...

They do have a good idea of the size needed and they do have every size on hand. Each manufacturer also provides a "sizing kit" that is used during the operation for measurement and size selection.

Aortic valve replacement at 35 Aortic valve replacement at 35 I chose aortic valve repair because it offered an outside chance of being a permanent fix. My surgeon said I could expect 12 years from the repair but the Mayo Clinic's own data - 332 repairs done between 1986 and 2011 - show that...

AmyR, In May the Mayo doctors released their latest study of 332 aortic valve repairs done at the Mayo Clinic between 1986 and 2011. Freedom from re-operation rates were 78% at ten years and 72% at fifteen years. I had my severely regurgitating bicuspid valve repaired at Mayo in April so I...

Big L, It's hard not to think that all the redundant testing is done to generate revenue, and money may play some part. At the same time, however, you are going to hold Mayo's doctors and their decision making to the highest standards. They have to be certain that their decisions are not...

Hi big L, I had my aortic valve repaired at Mayo Rochester last month and based on my experiences, you have little to worry about. -My wife was with me during all my exams. -I was given a private room and it seemed like everyone there had a private room, too. The suites, I believe, are...

Tony, The measurements used by my cardiologist to trigger surgery are a left ventricle diastolic diameter base greater than 70 mm and a systolic diameter base greater than 50 mm. If surgery is done at or around those numbers, I'm told the heart has a very good chance of going back to its...