This Florida man felt fit and healthy – until the doctor said he needed immediate surgery

For decades, Phil Passen has been an active runner and boxer. He jogs dozens of miles per week and regularly takes the park in competitions, all while parenting a 9-year-old daughter and working in finance.

He felt fit and healthy — so when his primary care physician at New York University’s Langone Health told him he had a previously undiagnosed congenital heart disease, he was shocked.

“I went for it my annual examination … and the general practitioner caught that I had a heart murmur, and it sounded a little abnormal,” said Passen, 53. He didn’t find anything with the stress test, but when he started the ultrasound, he found that I had a bicuspid aortic valve.

A bicuspid aortic valve means that people only have two valves in their aorta, instead of three. A bicuspid valve can calcify, narrowing the valve and making it difficult for blood to flow properly. The condition is usually corrected surgically, but when Passen was first detected in 2016, it was not yet at that stage. However, he and his family entered a “wait-and-see” period: Every year, Passen would have regular cardiology visits to monitor the situation.

“I had to think about ‘OK, this is something to monitor, and I can’t mess it up,'” Passen said. “So if it gets serious, I just have to ignore the symptoms and just do what I have to do.”

In 2020, two things happened: The coronavirus pandemic hit the United States, and the Passen family moved to Miami, Florida. Passen had yet to find a cardiologist in his new town, and he avoided doctor’s offices during the early stages of the pandemic. They are not alone: ​​41% of people reported missing appointments in the early months of the pandemic, according to the American Medical Association.

For three years, Passen was missed regular check-ups. He told CBS News that he still walks 25 to 30 miles a week, and that he is not experiencing any alarming symptoms such as shortness of breath, chest pain or dizziness. In April 2023, he finally made an appointment with a doctor in Florida, only to hear the news he had feared.

“They told me ‘You need immediate surgery on the heart valve.’ That was the last thing I wanted to do,” Passen said. “It was like a life-changing moment, because suddenly it’s not an elective surgery, and you’re told you have to do this, and you have to get it done quickly. It was probably the most stressful moment of my life.”

Finding second opinions and new options

Passen decided to seek another opinion from his former cardiology team. After the initial appointment, where he was told surgery would be needed in the coming months, he had a follow-up appointment to discuss his options with cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Mark Peterson, director of aortic surgery at NYU Langone.

The two most common surgeries each have their drawbacks. Passen can get replacement aortic valves from an animal source, but the valves tend to need to be replaced after about ten years, leading to more surgeries. Another option was a prosthetic valve made of pyrolytic carbon, but Passen then had to take blood thinners for the rest of his life and was unable to do contact sports. Prosthetic options also have a negative impact on life expectancy, Peterson said.

So Peterson presented Passen with a third option: A complex surgery called the Ross procedure. During this surgery, the aortic valve is replaced with the patient’s own pulmonary valve, and the pulmonary valve is replaced with a donor valve, Peterson said.

“The Ross procedure is obviously more complicated than standard tissue or mechanical valve replacement, but… “It restores survival to normal life expectancy, you don’t have to take blood thinners, and patients generally enjoy a good quality of life.”

It’s a riskier option. But it will give Passen the life he wants.

“I just decided it was necessary to do a more complicated operation and reduce the risk of having another operation, even in 10 years,” said Passen. “I just decided that I didn’t want to remember the fear of needing a new heart valve when I could have had surgery that would have reduced the chances of that happening.”

Once the decision was made, Passen said he began training for the surgery just as he would for an athletic event. From December to March, he made sure to stick to his exercise regimen, hoping to recover faster later on. Finally, the day of surgery.

Ross’ procedure takes about four hours, Peterson said. Passen’s surgery went well, Peterson said, and within two hours of waking up from surgery, he was walking around in the intensive care unit. After two and a half days, he was discharged.

Now, almost six months after the operation, Passen is back to running regularly and even took a family vacation to France in the summer. He credits Ross’s procedure with speeding his recovery and allowing him to return to his favorite sports activities.

Passen said she hopes her story will inspire others to take charge of their health.

“After you above 40you should not only have a physical exam every year, but you should also have your heart checked,” said Peterson. it can be handled.”