Dr. Benton was in medical school when he discovered he had a bicuspid aortic valve, which is a congenital heart defect. The aortic valve is a critical, one-way gate to the heart and ensures that oxygen-rich blood flows through the body while preventing backward flow (referred to as regurgitation). A normal aortic valve has three flaps, or cusps. These flaps open and close to control blood flow. A bicuspid aortic valve, like Dr. Benton’s, has only two flaps.
For the most part, Dr. Benton’s heart defect didn’t impact him too much. But that changed when he was 50 and needed an urgent (and complicated) heart surgery. Parade talked to Dr. Benton about how he knew he needed heart surgery, and how he decided which doctor to trust with his life.
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Dr. Chris Benton
“My pulmonary function tests weren’t great. In fact, they were bad in some ways,” Dr. Benton says, admitting that he was surprised. He was young, exercised regularly and ate a healthy diet. Confused, Dr. Benton brought his test results to his primary care doctor, who ordered an echocardiogram, which is a sonogram of the heart. He and the cardiologist could see from the echocardiogram that he had a bicuspid aortic valve, which is how he was diagnosed.
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Since Dr. Benton was generally in good health, his doctors said that his heart defect should be monitored through yearly echocardiograms, but nothing else needed to be done—at least for the time being. So, for 20 years, Dr. Benton diligently got an annual echo.
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Deciding Who To Trust With His Life
The echo showed that the regurgitation had gotten worse. To allow his doctor to get a better look at his heart, Dr. Benton underwent a transesophageal echo, which is when a flexible probe is put down the esophagus. Since the esophagus is directly behind the heart, this provides a clearer image of the heart than an echocardiogram. The transesophageal echo showed that Dr. Benton had ruptured his mitral valve.
Repairing two of his valves would be a major operation—and a pretty complicated one too. Dr. Benton literally had to put his life in someone’s hands. Who would he trust? He spent a few weeks meeting with three different cardiologists, who all had different approaches. Ultimately, Dr. Benton decided to work with Dr. Lars Svensson, MD, PhD, a cardiac surgeon at Cleveland Clinic.
Dr. Svensson explained to Dr. Benton and his wife, Florencia, that he planned to use the less invasive J incision approach rather than conventional open-heart surgery. This technique reduces pain and accelerates recovery. Pioneered at Cleveland Clinic, it has been further refined by Dr. Svensson for complex heart repair.
For his recovery plan, Dr. Benton has to complete 36 sessions of cardiac rehab; three sessions a week for three months. Currently, he’s done 30 of them, which means he’s almost at the end of his heart surgery journey. “It’s been really helpful in terms of seeing how hard I can safely push myself,” he says. Dr. Benton is already back to coaching his son’s baseball team and back at work. Soon, all his follow-up care will require is staying on top of his yearly echos, just like before.
His experience shows the importance of listening to your body (he took his post-workout heart palpitations seriously) and going the extra step of researching the best healthcare providers you can trust with your health. Both cases require listening to your gut—or in Dr. Benton’s case, heart.
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Sources:
Bicuspid Aortic Valve. Cleveland Clinic.Aortic Valve. Cleveland Clinic.Problem: Heart Valve Regurgitation. American Heart Association.Transesophageal Echocardiogram. Johns Hopkins Medicine.Mitral Valve. Cleveland Clinic.About Atrial Fibrillation. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Hence then, the article about i thought i was perfectly healthy then i needed emergency heart surgery at 50 was published today ( ) and is available on Parade ( Saudi Arabia ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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