Research Assessment #7

Name: Milind Renjit

Date: 10/31/18

Subject: Heart Valve Surgery

Teacher: Mrs. Brittain

MLA citation:  

 

Clinic, Mayo. “Heart Valve Surgery.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 23 Mar. 2018, www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/heart-valve-surgery/about/pac-20384901.

 

Assessment:

 

This article titled, “Heart Valve Surgery”, is an informational article published by the Mayo Clinic. Being one of the top-rated hospitals in the world, the information given can be trusted and extremely resourceful. The article discusses various aspects of heart valve surgery in the modern era. Everything from the pros and cons of this form of procedure to the possible clinical trials that are offered is discussed. Since heart valve surgeries are such a common current-day procedure, learning as much as I can about the topic can really help me become more knowledgeable about cardiothoracic surgery. This article helped me gain a lot of knowledge about the field and how the current state of Cardiothoracic Surgery is developing.

 

The article began by defining what Heart valve surgery is. Amazingly the scariest part about this form of heart failure is that not only can one valve be damage but it is possible to actually lose function of all four of the valves. Even though this is relatively rare, but from what can be gathered from the article, it is deadly to have this happen and must be dealt with very quickly. This showed me how important it is to learn to be brisk with surgery while also being accurate and effective. These are skills that seem to be extremely important to become a successful surgeon in today's medically demanding day and age. It is very refreshing to realize that hardcore physically and mentally demanding skills such as effective speed is still a very prominent feature of today's doctors. Even for the future generations of doctors, it can be seen from the current trends that these types of skills will still be needed, even if the future is meant to be run by robotics and automation. Even with these aids, there is no substitute for reaction times is what I have gathered.

 

Heart valve surgeries are usually performed for complications regarding mitral valve, tricuspid valve, pulmonary valve, or aortic valve functions. And depending on the age, health, the condition of the heart valve that is affected and the severity of the patient's condition, the doctor can make a call on whether to perform an Annuloplasty or a Valvuloplasty. Going back to my previous research assessments, this repair surgery can actually be done using the once highly popular method of open heart surgery or the currently popular method of minimally invasive surgery. Minimally invasive cardiac surgery allows for less blood loss, lower risk of infection, reduced trauma and pain shorter time in the hospital, faster recovery, and smaller/less noticeable scar. As an inference from what I know, it is very obvious that the preference is going to be for the minimally invasive surgeries. Just due to the various pros that come along with the form of surgery many will gravitate towards this option if it is given. These are all things that can hold weight in a surgeon's ability to attract patients. If they are not well versed in all the various options in surgery they can lose patients. As well as if their success rates being low can horribly affect the surgeon's ability to get customers. This can all be used in some way during my original project. When the survey is given to the patients I can possibly ask why they choose the doctor that they did. Maybe I could also list out a few characteristics and ask the patients to check the ones that would be something they would want their ideal surgeon to possess. Making my survey more in depth, gaining more results for the survey, and overall just validating the original work I am planning on completing.

 

In conclusion, the article titled, “Heart Valve Surgery”, has allowed me to gain fundamental knowledge about the basics of the procedure. This surgery is one that has a current high number of operations in current years with only an increase shown in its demand. Learning about the various aspects of heart valve surgery is something that I can use in the future in my original work and even in my future endeavors of being a doctor. Having the ability to be relatively knowledgeable on the very basics of the method can allow me a better understanding of what I could be performing frequently as a surgeon, and also it prepares me for the things I can learn to add onto and make the surgeries I perform better. Allowing for a better result for the patients that hopefully can save a lot of lives.