Elizabeth Taylor's "Controversial & Experimental" Heart Surgery Explained By Dr. Lishan Aklog
CLICK THE PLAY BUTTON TO LISTEN TO THE AUDIO INTERVIEW ABOUT ELIZABETH TAYLOR
77-year-old Hollywood legend, Elizabeth Taylor announced Tuesday on Twitter, she's going to the hospital to have a heart procedure. Taylor explained, "It's very new and involves repairing my leaky valve using a clip device, without open heart surgery, so that my heart will function better."
To better understand the Mitraclip procedure the two-time Oscar-winning actress is undergoing, Dr. Lishan Aklog, M.D., Cardiothoracic surgeon and the chairman of EmpowHer's Medical Advisory Board shared his insights with Todd Hartley.
Aklog explained, "It sounds like she has a leaky valve, what appears to be a leaky mitral valve. This is the inlet valve for the main pumping chamber of the heart. When that valve is leaking, some of the blood goes backwards and leaks back towards the lungs. And that causes a condition which she apparently was diagnosed with five years ago called congestive heart failure."
Symptoms she is most likely is experiencing include shortness of breath and fatigue.
