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Before & After: Monique Gets A Much-Needed Mitral Valve Repair

By Adam Pick on October 9, 2010

Monique just sent me two, very interesting pictures of her mitral valve - before and after surgery. I thought you might like to see these pictures as they illustrate the challenges of heart valve disease and the opportunities of heart valve treatment. The procedure was performed by Dr. David Adams at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.

Patient Using Incentive Spirometer In Intensive Care Unit

Monique At Mount Sinai Hospital

As Monique writes to me, "The pictures below are amazing!"

I completely agree.

Before & After Pictures Of Mitral Valve Repair Surgery

Monique's Mitral Valve

After looking at these mitral valve pictures, which were taken during the operation, I immediately noticed three things.

First, I noticed the diseased condition of Monique's mitral valve in the original photo. Monique had a mitral valve prolapse which caused her heart valve to leak and murmur.

Next, I noticed how nice the two mitral valve leaflets come together in the post-operative picture. This will definitely help prevent against mitral regurgitation in the future.

Finally, I noticed that Dr. Adams used an annuloplasty band or ring to enhance valvular and cardiac function going forward.

Dr. David Adams

Most importantly... Monique is doing well after mitral valve surgery. She writes to me, "I am feeling stronger every day -- although I had an issue losing fluid weight after surgery. The nurses explained that my body was pumped with different medicines to protect my heart in the first several days following surgery. At the peak, I weighed 146 pounds. Now, I'm down to 128. I continue a daily Lasix and potassium regiment. Plus, I'm walking several times a day."

Keep on tickin' Monique!
Adam

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Written by Adam Pick - Patient & Website Founder

Adam Pick is a heart valve patient and author of The Patient's Guide To Heart Valve Surgery. In 2006, Adam founded HeartValveSurgery.com to educate and empower patients. This award-winning website has helped over 10 million people fight heart valve disease. Adam has been featured by the American Heart Association and Medical News Today.

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