Discussion and support group for the open heart surgery procedure known as the Ross Procedure, an aortic valve replacement surgery.

The Ross Procedure, also known as pulmonary valve translocation, was developed by Dr. Donald Ross in 1967. The procedure addresses many of the problems of other aortic valve replacements. While mechanical valves will theoretically last forever, they do not always provide optimal performance and require the lifelong use of anticoagulants (blood thinning drugs) to prevent the formation of blood clots. Tissue valves such as pig valves and even human tissue valves have shown poor durability as replacements for the aortic valve.

The Ross Procedure, however, uses the patient's own pulmonary valve (the autograft valve) and the surrounding pulmonary artery as a unit to replace the aortic valve and surrounding aortic artery.