Mitral Valve Prolapse

THE MITRAL VALVE: It consists of two parachute-like leaflets, located between the left atrium and the left ventricle. It's like a one-way valve, letting oxygenated blood flow from the atria into the left ventricle when relaxed. Once the ventricles contract, it closes to prevent blood from going back into the left atrium.
MITRAL VALVE PROLAPSE: When the mitral valve doesn't close properly, it prolapses or flaps backward. This allows blood to leak back into the left atrium, which is called mitral regurgitation. In a sense, it makes the heart's pumps less effective when blood takes 3 steps forward and 2 steps back so to speak. In more severe cases, it can lead to an enlarged heart, irregular beating, and without monitoring, heart failure.
FREQUENCY OF OCCURENCE: Mitral Valve Prolapse is the most common heart vavle abnormality. It affects about 5 to 10 percent of people worldwide.
OTHER NAMES: Click Murmur syndrome, or Barlow's syndrome.
FACT: Did you know this condition is more common in tall, slim people, with long arms and fingers? Sounds like Milan to me!

Two Men: A poem by Kay Yerkovich

Two men; both with a reputation and talent that causes others to seek them and wait for their availability.

Two men; sometimes weary with the unending line of broken people seeking their help looking to them for healing.

Two men; both tending to exposed wounded hearts, holding for a time the destiny of another in their hands.

Two men; both diagnosing, finding the broken places that limit the full vitality of life giving support.

Two men: both observing hearts bearing marks of the curse.

One sees malformations, disease, marks of aging, hearts that struggle to sustain the rhythm of life.

The other sees hearts that hide, blame, covet and languish in unfulfilled hopes, struggling to give and receive love.

Two men:
One skilled with the delicate handing of the scalpel, cutting, repairing and stitching; his desire is to give the gift of time.

The other skilled at exposing and loosening the roots that choke and strangle life giving love; his desire is to give the gift of fulfilling connection.

Two men:
Both with a ready smile, a patient listening ear and the ability to inspire trust in their patients.

Two men:
Both willing to inflict pain because they know it is the only path to healing.

Meet Dr. Hillel Laks

World renown Dr. Hillel Laks is chief of cardiothoracic surgery at UCLA Medical Center. With his expertise, research, and innovative approaches to heart surgery, patients of all ages travel from around the world to be touched by his magical hands. As the principal investigator for the UCLA Total Artificial Heart Program, he draws from brilliance and creativity to find workable solutions for heart disease. Just as the world displays a diverse people, Dr. Laks describes each heart as unique. Therefore, each case requires flexibility and quick discernment once in the operating room. While many might experience intimidation from the uncertainty this creates, Dr. Laks takes on even the most challenging and seemingly hopeless cases. Perhaps his love for art, fiction writing, and history sparks his appreciation, instead of fear, for the individuality of each patient.

“I always used to paint when I was in high school and college, and once I rotated onto surgery and found something I could do with my hands, it appealed to me,” he said.

Many of Dr. Laks groundbreaking solutions to heart disease are now becoming standard procedure around the world. One of his most miraculous accomplishments includes responding to the shortage of heart transplants for older patients. With the scarcity of heart donors, younger patients typically receive priority. Hopeful recipients over the age of 65 are often rejected due to their age. Dr. Laks provided a solution by turning to a more plentiful source: repairing hearts considered unfit for transplant. In his first case, he performed quadruple-bypass surgery on a 53-year-old heart, and then transplanted it in a 68-year-old man.

Born in Pretoria, South Africa, Dr. Laks graduated with honors from Witwatersrand Medical School in Johannesburg. He has shared his discoveries in over 300 articles published in medical journals and trains other doctors around the world. He participated in 10 missions to teach physicians in Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Peru. His expertise and research also encompass pediatric cardiac surgery, cardiac assist devices, robotic and minimally invasive surgery, gene therapy to prevent cardiac rejection, valve repair, and finding techniques to extend the time a donated heart can be preserved.

Lives from around the world trust the wisdom, experience, and intuition of his hands. Dr. Hillel Laks truly shines with both brilliance and creativity, casting light and hope into even the most dim circumstances.