Mitral Valve Repair Reference Center at the Mount Sinai Health System

The Mitral Valve Repair Reference Center at Mount Sinai Health System is a proud partner in Heart Valve Disease Awareness Day. How have you raised awareness of mitral valve disease? Share your story in the comments.

Happy Fifth ! Comment below to let us know how you are raising awareness of heart valve disease today!

A surgeon’s # 11 blade is one of the sharpest on Earth, its cutting edge so extreme that a mere touch will draw blood. So as Dr. David Adams held his scalpel, about to begin a complex repair on a five-year-old boy’s mitral valve, he was already envisioning the sequence of incisions and sutures that would be necessary. He had to consider the challenge not in three dimensions, but four: how did he want the valve’s leaflets to move throughout the entire pumping cycle, and how should they perform over millions of heartbeats as the boy and his heart grew larger?

The boy’s name was Woodmylens, and bad luck had been a constant throughout his short life. Born in a corrugated metal shack without electricity or indoor plumbing, high in the mountains of Haiti’s interior, he was only a toddler when he contracted a case of strep throat, or perhaps scarlet fever; with no clinic in his isolated hamlet, he never received a diagnosis, let alone the penicillin necessary to ward off rheumatic heart disease.

Meet Woodmylens and read about Dr. Adams' medical missions to the Dominican Republic: https://www.mitralfoundation.org/woodmylens

Ismail El-Hamamsy, MD, PhD joined our team as System Director for Aortic Surgery weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic began in the United States. You can read about the amazing surgical journey of a first-time mother in the latest story from Mount Sinai Today. Dr. El-Hamamsy operated alongside Drs. Adams and Boateng to ensure this mother could meet her new baby.

https://health.mountsinai.org/blog/first-time-mother-receives-life-saving-aortic-surgery/

First-Time Mother Receives Life-Saving Aortic Surgery | Mount Sinai Today First-Time Mother Receives Life-Saving Aortic Surgery Jul 15, 2020 | Cardiology, Featured, Patient Stories | From left, Ismail El-Hamamsy, MD, PhD, Yulia Nurikyan, and Percy Boateng, MD. A first-time mother received life-saving heart surgery at The Mount Sinai Hospital, thanks to her quick response....

“It was one of the most enlarged hearts we’ve ever seen,” Dr. El-Eshmawi said. “His mitral regurgitation was worse than severe; it was torrential.”

To live, Campbell would need an entirely new valve. Read the full story of his mitral valve replacement with Drs. El-Eshmawi and Adams here:
https://www.mitralvalverepair.org/noel-c

Even in the best of times, the trip from Eliana Sainvil’s village to Port-au-Prince takes a day of hard driving over bad roads. But when her rattletrap taxi rounded a bend to encounter a smoldering roadblock of burning tires, Eliana knew her journey was about to become much harder, and more dangerous.

Under a sudden hail of protestors’ thrown rocks, her driver braked hard, shoved the car into reverse, and retreated up the road. But for Eliana, who was traveling with her gravely ill 15-year-old daughter Wideline, waiting until the road reopened wasn’t an option. If they didn’t make it to Port-au-Prince within 24 hours, they would miss their ride to the Dominican Republic for Wideline’s emergency heart surgery.

Meet Wideline and read about Dr. Adams' Mission to the Dominican Republic: https://www.mitralfoundation.org/wideline

As the COVID-19 pandemic began forcing New York into lockdown, Carmen B. felt the same anxiety that many others experienced – and figured it was probably responsible for the pressure she was feeling in her chest, and her shortness of breath.

But when those symptoms continued to worsen, she reluctantly made an appointment with a cardiologist. On her 34th birthday she had a video visit consultation with Dr. Adams for heart surgery.

Read her full story here: https://www.mitralvalverepair.org/carmen-b

We are pleased to announce that The Mount Sinai Hospital has, once again, been ranked as a top 10 hospital for cardiology and heart surgery in US News & World Report.

Thanks to our team of tireless physicians, nurses, clinical staff, caregivers and administrative professionals without whom this would not be possible.

The Mount Sinai Hospital, the flagship hospital of Mount Sinai Health System, was listed among the nation’s top hospitals for care excellence in U.S. News and World Report, marking the fifth straight year the hospital has been listed among the top 20 in the country while landing on the distinctive “Honor Roll” list.

Learn more: https://bit.ly/30RzZIE

We want to introduce our mitral community to our new Director of Aortic Surgery for the Mount Sinai Health System, Dr. Ismail El-Hamamsy, who joined our team, moving to New York from Montreal this spring.

You can read his patient Elizabeth's story online now. Going into surgery, Elizabeth asked Dr. El-Hamamsy, “When can I start training for the New York City Marathon in 2020?” Dr. El-Hamamsy replied, “Right away.”

https://www.heart-valve-surgery.com/heart-surgery-blog/2020/05/26/ross-procedure-patient-runner/

After Heart Surgery, Elizabeth Runs to Support Patients! See the inspirational patient success story of Elizabeth Boylan, a bicuspid aortic valve patient, who underwent a Ross Procedure by Dr. Ismail El-Hamamsy.

We recognize that these are unique times and want to thank our team of administrative professionals. From supporting our physicians, scheduling video visits for new patients, and working with patients to safely reschedule procedures -- our administrative team has met every challenge during the pandemic. Please join us in recognizing their hard work today.

Even though Sophie had no symptoms, her echocardiogram revealed that she had severe mitral regurgitation and severe tricuspid regurgitation. Did you experience symptoms before you were referred to Dr. Adams?

View Sophie's full story:
https://www.heart-valve-surgery.com/heart-surgery-blog/2015/07/18/sophie-marsh-barlows-syndrome/

Patient Success Week: Thanks to Her Dad’s Memory, Sophie Got the Screening & Treatment She Needed! After the unfortunate loss of her dad to a heart attack, Sophie Marsh decided it was time to see a cardiologist for a heart disease screening. The test results

February 22nd is Heart Valve Disease Day. What questions did you find most valuable when speaking to your heart valve surgeon for the first time? Here are some of the top questions we recommend patients ask their mitral surgeon during a consultation.

Thanks to the staff and patients who visited our booth at today's Community Heart Fair. We spoke to over 300 visitors about the symptoms of heart valve disease.

Learn more about heart valve disease by visiting https://www.valvediseaseday.org/ and talk to a cardiologist if you're feeling symptoms.