Has anyone had an hemisternotomy ?

[Xavier]

Hi,

I will have to change my aortic valve changed in the next 1 months or so combined with a resection of a subaortic membrane. I tlaked to a surgeon yesterday who told me that the exposure through a hemi-sternotomy is sufficient to perform an aortic valve replacement and also the resection. The advantages of the hemi-sternotomy incision are; a better cosmetic appearance, quicker recovery, less post-operative pain.
I was wondering if anyone has had such procedure perfomed.

Regards,

Xavier

Aortic Valve to be replaced
Subaortic membrane/ridge

[Ross]

Please don't post the same question in more then one forum. It makes it difficult to keep organized, terrible for the search feature when needing answers and we all read all forums, so your going to get an answer one way or another.

Thank you! :)

[Phyllis]

Xavier, I believe what you are referring to is what we know as minimally invasive aortic valve replacement- a 3 to 4 inch cut of the sternum. Dick had this procedure as did some others in the forum. His stay in the hospital was about 5 days, he never had any pain from the incision, but everything else in his recovery was about the same. This procedure is possible as long as the catherization shows that you do not also need bypass. Our suggestion is to go for it as long as you have a doctor who is VERY experienced in this procedure.