University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC)

Colleen Shirey, a school teacher and salsa instructor, is very active. Although she had been diagnosed with mitral valve prolapse, she didn’t let it stop her from enjoying her favorite activities. After feeling dizzy and fainting while preparing for a charity dance competition, Colleen asked her doctor for answers.

Several tests later, she learned that she was anemic and had developed an infection from a dental problem that spread throughout her body and settled in her mitral valve. There was enough leakage that Colleen’s doctor recommended she see a mitral valve specialist. Colleen was referred to the UPMC Heart Valve Center, which recommended minimally invasive robotic surgery to repair her valve. Colleen underwent successful surgery at UPMC and was back on the dance floor just five weeks later.

In 2008, Charlene Melcher of Orlando, Florida got a shocking diagnosis. Just 45 years old at the time and a mom to young children, Charlene had an aortic aneurysm, and her doctor told her that she needed to have both her aorta and her aortic valve replaced.

Charlene and her husband wanted a second opinion, and their search led them to UPMC. Her doctor recommended a replacement of her aorta but a repair -- not a replacement -- of her aortic valve to help Charlene avoid a lifetime of blood thinners and the likelihood of future surgery. In September of that year, Charlene underwent successful surgery at UPMC Shadyside in Pittsburgh. She returned to Florida and her career as a Realtor® within a few months of her surgery and feels “lucky to be alive.”