The Ross procedure is a type of heart valve replacement surgery to replace an aortic valve that is severely narrowed (stenosis) and/or improperly closing, allowing blood to leak back in the wrong direction (regurgitation). Oxygen-rich blood is normally pumped from the heart, through the aortic valve and out the aorta to the rest of the body. If the aortic valve is defective, then the rest of the body could be damaged from a lack of oxygen.

The Ross procedure is a two-step procedure. First, the surgeon replaces the aortic valve with the patient’s healthy pulmonic valve. The pulmonic valve allows oxygen-poor blood to travel from the right ventricle into the pulmonary artery, where it is carried to the lungs. Second, during the same surgery, the physician replaces the pulmonic valve with a valve from a cadaver (homograft). The main advantage of the Ross procedure is that the new aortic valve will grow with the patient, which is very important for children who are born with a heart defect.

The Ross procedure is an open-heart surgery that takes about five hours, and the patient will remain in the hospital for nearly a week. The success rate of the surgery is over 90 percent. After the surgery, the patient may need to take antibiotics before any dental, medical or surgical procedures to reduce the risk of a potentially fatal inflammation called endocarditis.

The International Registry of the Ross Procedure lists cardiac surgeons throughout the world who perform the Ross procedure.