Ross Procedure Only Heart Operation that Restores Life Expectancy Juan Pablo Umaña, M.D., is the Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery at UHealth, the University of Miami Health System. For more information on aortic valve repair, replacement and the Ross procedure, click here, call (305) 689-2784 or visit the UHealth Collective. MEET HELEVEN MEZERENE Heleven Mezerene, an active person and busy nurse, was born with a heart valve defect that would one day need surgery. “I discovered this diagnosis when I was in my early thirties because I used to run, and then one day I almost passed out,” Heleven says. She met with Juan Pablo Umaña, M.D., the Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery at UHealth, the University of Miami Health System, who specializes in aortic valve repair and replacement. Heleven had a bicuspid aortic valve that could lead to aortic stenosis. “Instead of having the three components, the three leaflets, the valve has two,” explains Dr. Umaña. “The Ross procedure is the only aortic valve replacement operation that restores life expectancy. The Ross procedure involves taking the equivalent valve on the right side of the heart, which is called the pulmonary valve, and replacing the aortic valve with it. Then we take a pulmonary homograft, which is a human donor valve and replace the patient’s pulmonic valve with it,” Dr. Umaña says. Heleven chose to have the Ross Procedure at UHealth for a couple of reasons. One, because she did not want to be on blood thinners the rest of her life, and two, she says she did not want to have follow up heart valve surgery in the future. “It’s a living valve, so you’re basically changing very little inside the heart in terms of how the heart functions, of the limitations you’re placing on the heart by implanting something that’s completely foreign, as is the case when we replace it with an artificial valve. The heart works better, the lungs work better. Everything goes back to normal,” says Dr. Umaña. UHealth’s Cardiothoracic Surgery Program focuses on a patient-centered multidisciplinary approach. “We truly have to integrate around the patient as a team. That is what excites me about the aortic program, and the reason why we’re bringing in different specialties to interact and be able to offer the patients the best operation at the right time and for the right reason,” Dr. Umaña says. “I didn’t even know what breathing normal was, what people take for granted. So here I am I said, ‘breathing in, breathing out’,” says Heleven. She completed her MBA and says she is ready to hit the ground running!  “I feel grateful, I feel happy. Just looking forward to my future,” Heleven says. ...read more read less