Infirmary Health Physician Successfully Performs Rare Procedure

FAIRHOPE, Ala. — In the 60 years that cardiac surgeons have been performing heart valve replacements, only three patients have ever survived a totally dislodged surgical valve. In March 2021, the Infirmary Health cardiovascular team, led by Dr. Kareem Bedeir, successfully performed the third on a 36-year-old man. The patient’s mechanical aortic valve, which was placed 15 years prior, suddenly dislodged from his heart and became located in his distal aortic arch. Emergency services brought him to Mobile Infirmary, where he arrived in severe cardiovascular collapse and on maximum support. Bedeir reconstructed the heart; re-implanted a new valve; then, using safe techniques, temporarily arrested the circulation to retrieve the dislodged valve before resuming circulation. Bedeir is a board-certified cardiothoracic surgeon with Cardio-Thoracic and Vascular Surgical Associates (CTVSA), an affiliate of Infirmary Health. He completed his fellowship training in cardiothoracic surgery and surgical critical care at Brigham and Women’s Hospital at Harvard Medical School in Boston, where he received the John J. Collins, Jr., Cardiothoracic Surgeon Scholars Award.