Doctor-Reviewed Health Guides: Conditions, Procedures & Health News

Mitral valve replacement is open-heart surgery that removes a damaged mitral valve and puts in a new one when the valve can't be repaired. It treats mitral valve regurgitation and stenosis. The new valve is mechanical (lasts 20 to 30 years, needs lifelong blood thinners) or biological (lasts 10 to 20 years). Recovery takes four to eight weeks.

Heart tumor removal surgery treats tumors in the heart, most of which are benign, such as myxomas and papillary fibroelastomas. Surgery is advised when a tumor causes symptoms, affects heart function, grows quickly or raises complication risk. Approaches include open-heart, minimally invasive and robotically assisted surgery. Benign tumors are usually removed completely with excellent results.

Prostate cryotherapy, or prostate cryoablation, treats prostate cancer by freezing and destroying cancer cells with thin needles called cryoprobes placed under ultrasound guidance. It's most often used when cancer comes back after radiation, but it can be a first treatment. Recovery takes about a week. Success is about 76% to 90% at three years, but lower after radiation.

A ureterostomy is surgery that reroutes one or both ureters so urine leaves through a new opening (stoma) on your belly and collects in a pouch worn outside the body. It's usually permanent and is done when the bladder can't drain urine normally, such as after bladder removal for cancer, a bladder injury, spina bifida or a spinal cord injury.

Nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, is a mild sedative gas breathed through a mask or nosepiece to help you relax during medical and dental procedures. You stay awake, and effects wear off 5 to 10 minutes after the gas stops. Side effects like headache or nausea are temporary. Frequent exposure can cause vitamin B12 deficiency, and recreational misuse is dangerous.

Pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) is a minimally invasive ablation that treats atrial fibrillation by creating tiny scars around the pulmonary veins with heat or cold, blocking the faulty electrical signals that trigger it. It's best when Afib continues despite medicine. It takes four to six hours, and serious complications are rare, around 1% or less.

Electroejaculation is a way to collect sperm from people who can't ejaculate because of a spinal cord injury, nerve damage or another condition. A urologist places a probe in the rectum next to the prostate and sends mild electrical pulses that trigger ejaculation. The sperm can be used for IUI or IVF, or frozen for later.

Peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) is a targeted cancer treatment that delivers radiation directly to neuroendocrine tumor cells. It treats gastroenteropancreatic tumors that can't be removed by surgery and have somatostatin receptors. A course is usually four infusions, two months apart. It's not a cure, but it can shrink tumors or stop their growth and help people live longer.

Auditory-verbal therapy (AVT) is an early intervention that teaches young children who are deaf or hard of hearing to listen and speak using their hearing aids or cochlear implants. Parents and caregivers are the main teachers, guided by trained specialists. It works best when started early and usually lasts three years or more.

Adolescent bariatric surgery, or pediatric weight-loss surgery, is an option for teens and young adults with severe obesity that makes the stomach smaller. The two recommended procedures are the gastric sleeve and Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. It can help treat or prevent type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and sleep apnea. The hospital stay is one or two days.

Single-port surgery is minimally invasive surgery done through one small incision, usually in or near the belly button, with a port that holds all the instruments. It's commonly used in urology, including prostatectomy and kidney surgery. Benefits include little scarring, less pain and a faster recovery. It's more technically demanding, so choose an experienced surgeon.

Open aneurysm surgery is the traditional way to repair an aortic aneurysm, a weak, bulging area in the body's main artery, by replacing the damaged section with a fabric tube (graft). Planned surgery is advised when an aneurysm reaches about 5 to 5.5 cm. Emergency surgery is needed if it ruptures. Recovery takes four to six weeks or more.

Coronary brachytherapy is a minimally invasive treatment that uses a small, controlled dose of radiation inside a heart artery to stop scar tissue from regrowing around a stent. It's used for in-stent restenosis, when a stented artery narrows again. The radiation step takes about 10 minutes, and most people go home the same day.

Transcarotid artery revascularization (TCAR) is a less invasive way to open a blocked carotid artery in the neck and lower stroke risk. Through a small cut above the collarbone, the surgeon temporarily reverses blood flow away from the brain, then places a stent. It takes about 1.5 hours with an overnight stay.

Convalescent plasma is a treatment that gives you antibodies from the plasma of someone who has recovered from the same infection, helping fight it while your own immune system catches up. It's used for new viral infections when vaccines or antivirals aren't available. It's given by IV, is generally safe and works best when given early.

Dermalinfusion, also known as the DiamondGlow facial, is a nonsurgical skin resurfacing treatment that exfoliates dead skin, deep-cleans pores and infuses a serum into the skin at once. It takes about 30 minutes with no pain and works for all skin tones. Results are immediate but temporary, and many people get three to six sessions.

Active surveillance is a way to manage low-risk prostate cancer with regular checkups and tests instead of immediate surgery, radiation or other treatment. It's for early-stage, slow-growing cancer that hasn't spread beyond the prostate. You'll have regular PSA tests, exams and biopsies or MRI. If the cancer grows, you can start treatment. Delaying treatment doesn't shorten life expectancy.

Pec (pectoral) implants are solid silicone implants placed under the chest muscles to make the chest look fuller and more muscular. People choose them for cosmetic reasons or for reconstruction of conditions like pectus excavatum and Poland syndrome. It's outpatient surgery through an incision in each armpit. Most people return to work in about a week.

Chemical cardioversion, or pharmacologic cardioversion, uses medicines to change an abnormal heart rhythm back to normal. It treats fast or irregular rhythms such as atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter and supraventricular tachycardia. You're watched in the hospital with heart monitoring. It's an alternative to electrical cardioversion, but long-term success may be only about 50%.

Resilience training is a set of programs that help you cope with stress, setbacks and serious life challenges, and grow from them. Programs build skills like stress management, flexible thinking and coping, using methods such as cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness. Sessions usually run weekly for several weeks to months. Studies show it can boost resilience and lower stress.

A non-tunneled central venous catheter (CVC) is a tube placed directly into a large central vein in the neck, chest or groin and threaded toward the heart. It's used for IV medicines, fluids, nutrition, blood draws and dialysis. It's not meant for long-term use and has a higher infection risk than tunneled catheters.

Cryotherapy of the cervix, or cervical cryosurgery, uses extreme cold to freeze and destroy abnormal cells on the cervix. It treats precancerous cells (cervical dysplasia), unusual bleeding, cervicitis and genital warts. It's done in the office in under 10 minutes, with mild cramps common. It works about 9 in 10 times.

Electrosurgery uses electricity to cut tissue, destroy growths or stop bleeding by sending current through an electrode, where heat damages the tissue and seals blood vessels. Dermatologists use it to remove skin tags and warts and to treat some skin cancers. You get numbing medicine first. Surface wounds heal in about a week; deeper ones take longer.

Arthrocentesis, or joint aspiration, is a simple procedure that draws fluid out of a joint with a hollow needle to relieve swelling and pain. The fluid can be tested for infection, bleeding or crystals from gout. It takes about 10 minutes in a provider's office. Complications are rare, though fluid can come back.