Stanford Craig Miller vs Kaiser SFO Pompili & vicken Diff opinions

[dixitworld]

Hello to all of the wondeful members here.

I am "V" had aortic valve replacement with ATS Mechanical Valve in India when i was 23 yrs old as my bicuspid valve was leaking. 8 years has passed and now i have been diagnosed with Ascending Aorta Aneurysm .

I had discussion with Kaiser SFO Surgeons Dr Mario Pompili and Vicken Melikian and they suggested Full aortic root and ascending aorta replacement and likely to put back my old mechanical valve.

I met Dr Craig Miller at Stanford (Seems quite Old around 72 yrs of age) and he recommended to replace as much of Aorta as possible without touching the aortic mechanical valve(means little bit of portion of aorta he will leave)

Diff between both hospitals is Kaiser Doctor are saying we should not leave a single piece of diseased aorta and for that they will need to take valve out , sew in new graft and put everything back in. while Stanford Dr Miller said it will be better to leave valve and little bit of aorta and will try to cover it up with graft as much possible.

First of all i am not able to decide which Doctor will be better, Dr Miller has great name but seems much old to me , not sure how he perform surgery, secondly the difference between the way of surgery by both surgeons

I am too much tensed. I recently got married last year and currently me and my wife both have not slept for 3 months fully, having so much bad dreams and sleepless nights.

Please help me members as much you can with your valuable advise

 

[Agian]

If it was me, I'd want the root replaced as well.
while they're in there they should replace the mechanical valve as well.
From what I can see, two surgeons at sfo said the same thing.
I wouldn't fret over a 72 year old surgeon's 'hands' being shaky. It's a non-argument. However, the younger guys tend to be more up-to-date with the technology.

 

[dixitworld]

If it was me, I'd want the root replaced as well.
while they're in there they should replace the mechanical valve as well.
From what I can see, two surgeons at sfo said the same thing.
I wouldn't fret over a 72 year old surgeon's 'hands' being shaky. It's a non-argument. However, the younger guys tend to be more up-to-date with the technology.

Thanks for the reply. Doctor at Kaiser and Stanford both said that its advisable to keep existing valve as if a mechanical valve crosses 5 yrs , it is less likely to have issues , but a new mechanical valve always has a tendency for having issues in initial couple of years.

I discussed again with Stamford Doctor and he said that he will try to remove as much of aorta root possible without touching the valve.

My doubt is only now whether age of Stanford Doctor Miller can be a issue for me? Being at 72 can he do better surgeries than surgeon at Kaiser?

 

[mainframe]

Dr. Miller did my surgery in 2009. i would have him do another if I needed one. Bill B (another VR member and Miller alumni) and I went to see Dr. Miller in November. Of course he looked older than in 2009, who doesn't? But he had just completed a 13 hour surgery the night before yet when we met him and he had plenty of energy. He greeted me with "you shouldn't be alive". My surgery and recovery was tougher than most.

Chris

 

[dixitworld]

Thanks Chris for your valuable information. I was expecting your reply and thanks for cheering up all stressed up guys like me.
Only concern I had was that considering he is old and shaky doing surgery which needs atmost precision won’t be a risky. I heard his surgeries are going longer than other surgeons. May be he has gone slow? Any thoughts ?

 

[mainframe]

Even if his surgeries go longer than others, could that not be a good thing? Perhaps he's more diligent and pays more attention to detail. Who knows? But he certain has more experience and has seen just about everything. That's of value.

 

[Agian]

Thanks for the reply. Doctor at Kaiser and Stanford both said that its advisable to keep existing valve as if a mechanical valve crosses 5 yrs , it is less likely to have issues , but a new mechanical valve always has a tendency for having issues in initial couple of years.

Fair enough. You learn something everyday.

 

[dixitworld]

Even if his surgeries go longer than others, could that not be a good thing? Perhaps he's more diligent and pays more attention to detail. Who knows? But he certain has more experience and has seen just about everything. That's of value.

What i came to know is that longer the duration of surgery and clamping time, more risk a patient have.
Thats why not able to take a decision yet