Mike's Guestbook

Hi Mike - saw your comment on My Guestbook and decided it made the most sense to reply on your Guestbook. I did a lot of research on treatment options before selecting the Ross Procedure. Ultimately, I decided that I wanted to pursue the Ross Procedure because of better long-term outcomes, not having to take a blood thinner, and a good chance I will never need follow-up heart surgery. It's likely I would have worn out a pig valve (especially since I'm an active runner) in < 10 years. A mechanical valve would have been a sturdy, long-term option but I wasn't excited about daily blood thinner and constant monitoring. The Ross Procedure has been around for 55 years when it was introduced as a method to replace the aortic valves in children since it is the only procedure where the replacement valve is living tissue and children need their valve to grow as their heart grows. It gained popularity in the 1990’s for non-children patients but the complexity of the surgical procedure by inexperienced surgeons led to poor outcomes and it fell out of favor for many of the following years. It’s growing in popularity again as more and more long-term results are available showing that when done at highly experienced clinics, the outcomes are very good and outperform the more common valve replacements (mechanical valves or pig/cow valves). Ross Procedures are normally done on patients younger than me but my fitness level and active lifestyle led to me being grouped with younger patients. From my surgeon visit notes: “He is on the older side for a Ross but is extremely healthy and fit, and we discussed that in a certain population of healthy 60-65 year olds with expected life span > 25 years, a Ross concept is reasonable and we have done this approach several times with good results.” As shown in the graph below, from a March 2022 medical journal, the Ross Procedure offers the best option with as close-to-normal consequences and without having to take daily anti-coagulants and worry about bleeding and bruising issues and other complications. My fitness level helped the surgeon determine that I could tolerate the surgical procedure. As documented in my journal, I had some A-fib complications that are common for heart valve patients but, as predicted, those issues cleared up during the first two months. I am 100% satisfied with the decision to go with Ross and hope you also become fully at peace with whatever option you decide to pursue. Best wishes, Dan