Arnold Kanov has spent decades capturing life’s precious moments through his camera lens. An avid photographer and retired CPA technology consultant, the 83-year-old Miami resident takes pride in documenting the growth of his family. His home’s tables and walls are filled with photos of his wife of 61 years, their three children and six grandchildren.

However, a sudden health decline last year threatened to put his passion—and his life—on hold. Mr. Kanov began experiencing debilitating shortness of breath and fatigue, symptoms that signaled a serious issue with his heart.

Tom C Nguyen, MD

Prosthetic heart valves typically have a lifespan of 15 years. Mr. Kanov’s was starting to fail and blood was leaking around the valve rather than flowing through it.

“As I understand it, when blood was forced through the leak, oxygen was being stripped from it,” says Mr. Kanov. This sent his hemoglobin to critically low levels, which left him fatigued and short of breath and, according to family and friends, gave his skin a pale green tone.

The question then became how to proceed. Should he try and have the valve repaired with minimally invasive surgery or opt for a full replacement, which would entail open heart surgery? His previous heart surgery wasn’t his first; he had also undergone another valve replacement procedure years earlier. A third heart surgery at age 83 might be more than his body could handle.

Seeking the Very Best Care

Mr. Kanov researched his options and came up with a short list of some of the country’s top heart surgeons. Ultimately, he decided to entrust his care to Thomas Nguyen, M.D., FACS, FAC, chief medical executive of Baptist Health Heart & Vascular Care, director of Minimally Invasive Surgery, and Barry T. Katzen Endowed Chair at Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute, and professor and chair of the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences at Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine.

“I picked him because I thought he was the best,” says Mr. Kanov of Dr. Nguyen, an internationally recognized cardiac surgeon and global leader in minimally invasive valve surgery. “He was very open, very candid, unbelievably professional and eminently experienced doing this type of surgery.”

Increased Risk After Two Prior Heart Surgeries

Dr. Nguyen explains the physiological impact of Mr. Kanov’s leaky prosthetic valve. “Every time his heart squeezed, the blood would go backward into his left atrium and back into his lungs. This meant his heart had to work much harder to get blood to the rest of the body.”

The leak created high-velocity blood flow that sheared red blood cells, causing Mr. Kanov’s hemoglobin levels to drop significantly and leading to his severe fatigue. “Left untreated, he would have inevitably escalated to heart failure,” Dr. Nguyen says.

Correcting a paravalvular leak in an 83-year-old patient with two prior heart surgeries presents significant surgical challenges. Dr. Nguyen says that many programs decline to perform a third-time redo heart surgery due to the risks involved.

“The body reacts to surgery by developing scar tissue,” Dr. Nguyen notes. “With the heart, a second surgery is harder and the third time is particularly tricky. There’s so much scar tissue already, at first you can’t even tell a heart is there. It’s almost like carving the heart out of a block of ice to get to the leaky valve.”

An Outcome that Exceeded Expectations

Mr. Kanov underwent mitral valve replacement surgery at Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute last September, in which his old prosthetic valve was replaced with a medical-grade porcine bioprosthetic valve. Dr. Nguyen and his team successfully navigated the scar tissue from previous operations to insert the new valve.

“They cut out the old valve, put in a new valve, stitched it up and put me all back together,” says a smiling Mr. Kanov says, greatly simplifying what was a delicate and highly complex procedure.

Despite the complexity of the operation, Mr. Kanov’s outcome exceeded expectations. “He did fantastic,” Dr. Nguyen says. “Surprisingly enough, he says his recovery from this one was better than after his first couple of surgeries.”

Rapid Recovery After Valve Replacement

Mr. Kanov describes his week in the hospital following surgery as reassuring, noting the constant presence of the care team. “When I was in the ICU after my surgery, the care I received was unbelievable. All I had to do was breathe and someone would be there instantly.”

 His physical recovery progressed quickly and today Mr. Kanov says he feels significantly better than he did prior to the surgery. He has returned to his active lifestyle, walking a few miles every day, enjoying lots of quality time with his family and, of course, capturing their lives and travels with his camera.

“My recovery has been unbelievably good,” Mr. Kanov says. “I’m not short of breath. I can walk two or three miles and not even break a sweat. I feel like I’m 40.”

Never Too Old for Heart Surgery

Dr. Nguyen attributes successful outcomes in high-risk cases like Mr. Kanov’s to the collaborative environment at Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute. The program emphasizes a multidisciplinary approach where surgeons, cardiologists, anesthesiologists and nurses work in unison.

“It’s not just the surgeon,” Dr. Nguyen says. “It’s the nurses, anesthesiologists, therapists — everyone knows their role. We don’t want to be following medicine. We want to be leading medicine and innovating.”

This dedication to practicing medicine at the “99th percentile” allows the team at Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute to offer hope to patients who might otherwise be considered too old or too high-risk for surgery.

“A lot of times patients feel like they’re too old or too sick for heart surgery,” Dr. Nguyen says. “But surprisingly, patients in their 80s do very, very well. There are still a lot of things we can do to help people regain their quality of life.”

Focusing on What Matters Now

With his heart health restored, Mr. Kanov has returned to what he values most: his family and his photography. He continues to document his life with his wife, children and grandchildren, grateful for the additional time the surgery has afforded him.

“I have a new lease on life,” Mr. Kanov says. “If this valve lasts another 15 years, I’ll be 100 before I need another one. It gives me more time to spend with my family, do more photography and go on more trips.”

Mr. Kanov advises others experiencing symptoms not to delay seeking care. “If you don’t feel well and think you have a heart issue, don’t procrastinate,” he says. “Go see somebody. Talk to cardiologists. Get second opinions. Had I gone sooner, it would have saved months of uncertainty.”