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Edward Nussbaum first discovered he had a heart murmur in 1950 during a Navy ROTC physical.
“I had already passed all of the necessary tests to join the Navy, when they discovered the murmur,” recalls Nussbaum. “I can still remember them saying, ‘Sorry, but we can’t take you.’”
Nussbaum, who had never experienced any problems with his heart, was very surprised by the discovery of his murmur.
“I don’t think either of my parents had heart issues,” said Nussbaum. “Of course, people did not undergo as many medical check-ups in those days, and the technology was certainly nowhere near where it is today.”
It was not until almost 20 years later that Nussbaum would feel the effects of his heart condition, spending a few days in the hospital.
“After several tests, the doctors reclassified my condition as mitral valve prolapse and later as mitral valve regurgitation,” said Nussbaum.
Nussbaum endured a shortness of breath for quite some time, eventually spending two years in cardiac rehab. However, when his capacity to breathe began to slow down again, his cardiologist in New Hampshire referred him to Lawrence Cohn, MD, BWH’s chief of Cardiac Surgery.
Following a consultation with Cohn, Nussbaum was scheduled to undergo minimally invasive mitral valve surgery, making him one of the first patients to have this type of repair when the surgical series first began at BWH.
“Minimally invasive mitral valve surgery has many benefits,” said Cohn. “If successful, it can reduce the pain, recovery time and costs often associated with conventional mitral valve surgery, while allowing us to achieve a superior cosmetic result. The goal is to decrease surgical trauma while maintaining surgical efficacy. All of these factors ultimately lead to the overall improvement of patient satisfaction.”
“The surgery went smoothly,” said Nussbaum, who underwent the procedure in October 1996. “It took a few months before I started feeling good again, but by March, I was going downhill skiing.”
Nussbaum’s surgery went so well, in fact, that his son, Robert, underwent the same procedure nearly six years to the day later.
“Robert was diagnosed with a heart murmur and mitral regurgitation like mine,” said Nussbaum. “It had started to bother him more frequently, so his cardiologist in San Diego recommended he have the same type of surgery. Robert met with Dr. Cohn and had the procedure this past September.”
Today, both father and son are in good spirits and better health.
“I can walk up hills without running out of breath,” said Nussbaum. “I even lug my golf clubs from hole to hole.”
BWH is one of only three hospitals in the world that currently executes minimally invasive mitral valve surgery and has performed nearly 500 procedures to date.