The Center for Heart Valve Disease at the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute focuses on treating patients with the most advanced strategies available in the world. Our successful program is evident by our superior clinical outcomes:
Clinical Outcomes Highlights
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In comparison to the Society of Thoracic Surgeons national data, the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute has a zero percent operative mortality for complex cardiac surgeries. In addition to the surgeries reported above, the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute has a zero percent operative mortality for isolated coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. The absence of mortality for these complex cardiac procedures is a major achievement and reflective of the outstanding care received at the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute.
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The cardiac surgeons at the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute know that it is in the best interest of the patient to repair a damaged heart valve rather than to replace it with an artificial valve. Heart valve repair often provides the best long-term clinical outcome for restoring proper valve function.
At the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute 89 percent of mitral valves were repaired rather than replaced. In comparison, Society of Thoracic Surgeon data indicates that isolated mitral valve repair was only performed in 54 percent of patients undergoing mitral valve operations nationwide.
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If a heart valve is damaged beyond repair, surgery is required to replace the diseased valve. The diseased valve is replaced with either a bioprosthetic (tissue) valve or a mechanical valve. Although there are advantages and disadvantages, mechanical valves require blood-thinning medication like Coumadin® (warfarin) for the rest of your life and may result in lifestyle modifications such as sports or activity restrictions and dietary constraints.
Valve replacement with bioprosthetic valves at the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute far exceeds national standards. Specifically, bioprosthetic valves were used in 96.1 percent of all aortic valve replacement procedures at the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute, compared to 80.0 percent nationally. Likewise, bioprosthetic valves were used in 100 percent of all mitral valve replacement procedures at the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute, compared to 60.0 percent nationally.
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Sixty-two percent of the surgical procedures performed at the Bluhm
Cardiovascular Institute were complex heart valve operations. In this
scenario, "complex" refers to more than one procedure performed during
the same operation. Examples of these complex procedures include more
than one valve being operated on during the same operation, heart valve
procedures done in conjunction with coronary artery bypass graft (CABG)
surgery, or heart valve procedures done in conjunction with atrial fibrillation surgery (Maze procedure).
Twenty-five percent of the surgeries performed were isolated CABG.
"Isolated" refers to when the CABG is the only procedure performed
during the operation. "Other" procedures were responsible for 13
percent of the cases performed and include procedures such as but not
limited to left ventricular aneurysm procedures, atrial septal defect repairs, isolated Maze procedures, and ventricular assist device implants.
Contact
The Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute's Center for Heart Valve Disease is led by director Nalini M. Rajamannan, MD.
For more information regarding the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute or the Center for Heart Valve Disease, call (866) 662-8467, or request an appointment online.
