Richard Morrison, M.D., cardiovascular surgeon on staff at Memorial, will be the keynote speaker at the first in a series of lectures at Memorial Hospital. Dr. Morrison will discuss “Heart Valve Disease: Current and Future Therapies,” focusing on two of the most common valve diseases – aortic stenosis and mitral valve prolapse.
The lecture will be held on Saturday, August 17, at 10 a.m. in Memorial’s
South
Tower
, 2nd floor Surgery Waiting Area. Light refreshments will be served.
According to the American Heart Association, about 5 million Americans are diagnosed with heart valve disease each year. Aortic stenosis, one of the most common and most serious valve disease problems, is a narrowing of the aortic valve opening. Although some people have a congenital heart defect, aortic stenosis mainly affects older people - the result of scarring and calcium buildup in the valve cusp (flap or fold). Age-related aortic stenosis usually begins after age 60. Mitral valve prolapse, a condition in which the two valve flaps of the mitral valve do not close smoothly or evenly, affects approximately 1 in 20 Americans.