What is the prognosis after aortic valve replacement?
“You can live a normal life,” DeAnda says. “That’s the whole point.” “You can return [the patient] to a normal life expectancy,” Robertson says. Typically patients are back to work in about six weeks, DeAnda says. After that, if they are doing well, DeAnda tells them they can travel, go through metal detectors without difficulty, and resume a normal sex life. For those on blood thinners, there are some restrictions, Robertson says. “No contact sports or black diamond skiing,” he says, because the risk of injury — and potential blood loss from it — is considered too great. SOURCES: Abe DeAnda Jr., MD, cardiac surgeon, director of aortic surgery, Montefiore-Einstein Heart Center, Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine, N.Y. John Robertson, MD, cardiac surgeon, director of thoracic and cardiac surgery, St. John’s Health Center, Santa Monica, Calif. Robin Williams’ web site. American Heart Association: “Aortic Valve Stenosis and Insufficiency.” Society of Thoracic
