Patient Leaves Hospital the Day after Minimally Invasive Heart Surgery

“I went home one day after my heart surgery. It was amazing.”

 

Just minutes before he was about to undergo shoulder surgery, a doctor performing a final pre-operative exam listened to 28 year old Justine Celentano’s heart and heard an extremely loud murmur, which is an extra or unusual sound when the heart beats. Sometimes heart murmurs indicate a defect in the heart, sometimes they do not. In Justin’s case, one of his heart valves was severely leaking.

 

Because undergoing any surgery with a cardiac problem can be dangerous, Justin’s shoulder surgery was postponed and he was referred to a cardiologist for further evaluation. An echocardiogram and cardiac catheterization indicated severe mitral valve regurgitation and dilation of the heart’s left ventricle.

 

The mitral valve is located between the left atrium and left ventricle. Normally the mitral valve resembles a parachute that is made up of leaflets which open and close. When open, blood passes from the atrium into the ventricle. When the leaflets close, they prevent blood from returning to the atrium. Essentially, it is a one-way valve and, when it works properly, blood goes in one direction from the atrium, to the ventricle, and then from the ventricle out to the rest of the body. Mitral valve regurgitation means that the valve does not fully seal when it closes, causing the valve to leak.

 

After he was diagnosed, Justin was referred to Dr. Paul Massimiano, a cardiac surgeon specializing in mitral valve disease. Dr. Massimiano performed minimally invasive mitral valve repair surgery on Justin. In this surgery, rather than making a large incision down the center of the chest and breaking the breast bone, a small incision is made in the right chest between two ribs and the heart is accessed using specially designed instrumentation.

 

Justin experienced all the advantages of minimally invasive surgery, which include a quicker recovery and less overall trauma to the body which means a faster return to normal activity with less pain and a shorter length of stay in the hospital. Justin left the hospital the day after his surgery with virtually no pain.

 

Three weeks after surgery, Justin says he feels completely normal and is ready to return to work.