Helping You Live Longer, with a Better Quality of Life

The Ross Procedure is a type of heart valve replacement for patients with aortic valve disease. During the procedure, your aortic valve is replaced with your own pulmonary valve, rather than a prosthetic valve. Your pulmonary valve is then replaced with either a human donor valve, a porcine valve or pericardial valve. It is usually performed on younger patients, typically to treat calcific aortic stenosis, but can also be performed for other aortic valve diseases.

What are the benefits of a Ross Procedure?

• In younger adults, the Ross procedure is associated with improved survival rates.
• Your own tissue can repair itself.
• You have no need for lifelong blood thinners.
• There is the possibility of a single operation, rather than needing subsequent procedures if a bioprosthetic valve is used.
• There is less risk of infection since it uses your own tissue.
• In young adults and children, there is a potential for the valve to grow with age.
• You have minimal restrictions on your lifestyle post-procedure.
• There is a reduced failure rate compared to prosthetic valve replacement.
• It is the only operation that allows for an aortic valve replacement with a living valve substitute.
• The Ross procedure has excellent hemodynamics and functions similar to your native valve.

Who is a good candidate for the Ross Procedure?

• You do NOT have serious infections.
• You have either aortic stenosis or aortic regurgitation.
• You are relatively young, generally under the age of 50 — but there is no hard age cutoff.
• You are trying to become pregnant in the future and do not want to be on lifelong anticoagulation.
• You have a normal pulmonary valve.
• You do NOT have a coagulation disorder.
• You do NOT need multiple valves to be replaced.
• You do NOT have a connective tissue disorder.
• You do NOT have multiple other diseases, such as coronary artery disease.

Why Choose Us to Perform Your Ross Procedure

The Ross Procedure is a complex surgery, and our surgeons at the USC Cardiac and Vascular Institute have over 30 years of experience performing this technique in over 650 patients.

Our surgeons teach other surgeons how to perform the Ross Procedure.

Our mortality rates with this technique are close to zero.

Our Ross Procedure patients have a survivorship rate equal to that of the general population.