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Could it be a sternal click that you're mistaking for an extra beat? I would experience a little "click" in my sternum for a few months after surgery but only when breathing in. If you're not paying close attention it could sound/feel like another beat.

Allografts and homografts are the same thing--valves from another human being. Your own valve being transplanted from one position to another (like in the Ross procedure) is an autograft.

This is one of the reasons the Ross has fallen out of favor among non-children (even at 17 I don't count you as a child). One can also avoid warfarin by getting a biological valve, such as a cow valve, and not just a Ross procedure. It's true that a biological valve probably would not have...

You will encounter a variety of reactions. In a field like this, there are a lot egos flying around, and there are few doctors who think they--or their guy--aren't capable of handling it. And I'm sure 9 times out of 10, the community hospital would be fine. But at the end of the day, it's your...

This is my understanding as well. So, not zero, but still unlikely for any given patient. Not sure if it has anything to do with any patient characteristics (but my uneducated guess is that it doesn't).

This is right. Everything I've been told is that the home machines lose their accuracy in the high numbers, and so if you get a high reading you need a vein draw to see what it really is.

I could be wrong, but I thought the robot is not yet used for AVR. See below: But at her age, percutaneous might be an option. This is when they replace it via a catheter rather than open-heart surgery. But it's only being used on the very old who would not otherwise make it through a...

Since you haven't had much success with these, I would go to another center rather than contact the same surgeon again (if that's what you're doing). Look for the most experienced center with the highest volume that is practical for you to get to. This is the third time now, and you can't mess...

I've gone through with no problem.

I agree that one should investigate all valves. The last thing I wish to do is pick an internet fight, it's just that some people (myself included) and some surgeons prefer to go with the tried-and-true, and there is nothing wrong with that, either.

Sorry, but it sounds like you're a shill for On-X. Unless you have had personal experience with the Regent, or are a doctor, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to say you're "not a fan" of it. I don't know much about the Regent to be perfectly honest, but I don't think it's right to push so...

I believe aortic repair/replacement can be done through the minithoracotomy, but is usually accomplished either through a full sternotomy or mini sternotomy. The latter is known as hemisternotomy but uses a smaller incision. This is also considered minimally invasive, although it's different...

Anything that pushes new anticoagulation methods forward is a good thing in my book, even if a warfarin replacement for valvers is a long ways away.

Very interesting. Mine got down to 22% and still no transfusion. I'm very young and otherwise healthy, and I was told my surgeon wasn't keen on transfusing unless absolutely necessary. I apparently had no color for a couple of weeks, though. :D

I've had similar issues since my re-do AVR in May of this year. A couple parts of my wound opened up and I had it looked it by a bunch of people. Early on I met with a CT surgeon at my local hospital who wanted to do what your guy is proposing now, muscle flap with plastic surgeon. I then sought...

My concern about this would not be so much with the full sternotomy itself--it's a time-tested, safe way to do open-heart surgery. It's rather that the minimally invasive has been around for fifteen years and is now the standard of care for isolated AVR at good hospitals. I would worry what his...

Almost everyone has mild leakage post-op. (Similarly, if everyone in the world got an echo, more would probably have a little leakage than not.) Whether your husband has more than that I don't know.

Not really much to offer, but this should pass fairly quickly. You can try setting your alarm an hour or two before that to take pain meds, so by the time you get up you are mostly pain-free.

I've had both--mini the first time, full the second. The second surgery was definitely tougher physically, which I can probably only partially attribute to the incision. I lost more blood the second time around, leaving me much weaker--this may be partially explained by the larger incision, but...

Then I suppose it's not ready, don't you say? :)