Tuesday, March 10, 2009

What Is Aortic Valve Replacement Surgery?

Robin Williams: The comedian is scheduled to have aortic valve replacement surgery.
FLICKR/CHARLES HAYNES

From Scientific American:

Comedian and actor Robin Williams, 57, last week postponed a planned 80-city tour of his one-man show, "Weapons of Self-Destruction" to undergo aortic valve replacement surgery. His announcement came just days after 83-year-old former first lady Barbara Bush left a Houston hospital after undergoing the same procedure.

The aortic valve is what keeps oxygenated blood flowing from our heart into the aorta, the largest artery in our body, and prevents it from washing back into the heart with each pump cycle. But as we age, the tricuspid (three-leafed) valve tends harden and thicken, forcing the heart work harder to keep blood flowing smoothly. Open-heart surgery is typically required to replace the valve if it thickens so much that it causes aortic stenosis, an abnormal narrowing and stiffening of the valve.

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1 comment:

Siddique said...

Every year about 200,000 patients in the United States need a new heart valve because they have severe aortic stenosis. This is a condition in which the aortic valve starts to narrow and affect the efficient flow of blood from the heart to the other parts of the body. This can lead to congestive heart failure and sudden death. Valve Replacement surgery in Thailand