[deano_hoosier]

I had my aortic valve replaced 3 years ago via open-heart minimally invasive surgery (called "J-cut"). I would only go to a Heart Intensive Hospital that does a bunch of these sort of operations simply because the round-the-clock staff sees all the various complications that can occur. They see them frequently and know how to deal with them. Do check and ask the surgeon/hospital you are considering how many valve replacements they have done in the past 12 months. You can also google US News on surgeon/hospital ratings and search for those that do a large number of valve replacements. From US News you will see Leesburg has only a 22.8/100 rating and "worst" rating for survival. Munroe is 33.9/100 and "better than average" for survival. The one I went to in Indianapolis was a 48/100 rating and "best" for survival, same as for Cleveland Clinic as to "best" for survival, though Cleveland Clinic overall rating was 100/100. Wish you the best no matter where you go.