MightyHeartsProject

We are honored to have interviewed Dr. Sayaka Takeuchi of the Jasmine Clinic where under Dr. Masami Uechi they perform canine mitral valve bypass repair surgeries. Dr. Takeuchi answers the most common questions our pet parents ask while they prepare to go to the Japanese clinic for this surgery. We hope this information helps our families prepare for their journey's.

In March of 2024 we had an in depth conversation with the amazing Dr. Masami Uechi where he discusses important topics regarding mitral valve repair and the differences between the TEER procedure and the decompression surgery compared to the repair surgery under bypass. We hope this information is helpful to our Mighty Hearts families that often ask these important questions.

Last year, Dr. Sayaka Takeuchi, Dr. Masami Uechi and other vital staff at the Jasmine Clinic in Yokohama Japan were gracious enough to host a seminar to educate our Mighty Hearts families on what is Canine Mitral Valve Repair (MVR). Topics discussed include: -Candidacy -Risk factors -Steps of the procedure and a visual of the components of the heart and chambers and what the repair surgery entails. -Most importantly the latest statistics achieved by the Jasmine clinic. We appreciate your support, as we continue to support you and your beautiful family member. The Mighty Hearts Project Team

In this video you will see Nate Estes's daughter Zoey Marie Estes undergo her second Mitral Valve Repair surgery procedure. Nate Estes is one of the original founders of Mighty Hearts Project. Zoey's surgery was performed on February 12th 2019 by Drs. Masami Uechi, Hiroshi Takano and the dedicated team at the Japan Veterinary Cardiovascular Medical Center (Jasmine) located in Yokohama Japan. Zoey sadly needed to undergo a second repair procedure to correct her heart as it prolapsed for unknown reasons causing an artificial chordae tendineae to rupture from her heart muscle wall leading to the further increasing of her mitral valve regurgitation. After her first surgery in France in 2016 her regurgitation was moderate and now it’s become severe. As a result it drastically increased her heart size causing Zoey to further decline into a controlled state of heart failure with close observation by my cardiologist using the proper dosages of medications. Masami Uechi and Sayaka Takeuchi advised me it would be best consider taking Zoey to Japan for another surgery as she was only seven and otherwise very healthy. After being fully explained all the risks and unknowns for this second procedure my family made the difficult choice to do the surgery. Today over a year and almost two months later she still defies all the odds against her. Zoey's heart is doing exceptionally well. She is off all her medications with the exception of sildenafil, which was recently added for her newly diagnosed pulmonary hypertension. It has been determined not to be heart related. Zoey continues to inspire myself and all of our MVR families as she is a shining hope of determination and strength. Special thanks to Masami Uechi, Sayaka Takeuchi, Ayaka Chen, Hiroshi Takano and the rest of the amazing Jasmine team who had a hand in this incredible surgery which had a 50/50 chance of succeeding. I am forever grateful and will always be in debt to these amazing kind loving human beings who fight everyday on the front lines of this disease (MVD) to save our animals. They will always have a place in my heart and my full unwavering support. Nate Estes Mighty Hearts Project Update, May 7th, 2021, Zoey sadly passed away because her heart was just so tired. She will forever live on through my work as we carry you all through your journey's.

Hi everyone, we wanted to share with all of you an interview we did with Dr. Masami Uechi and Sayaka Takeuchi in Japan back in April 2018. Dr. Masami pioneered mitral valve repair surgery for small dogs. His Jasmine clinic is Yokohama, Japan is one of the most states of the art heart surgical repair setup for dogs in the world. Dr. Masami's clinic currently performs 6-8 mitral valve repair surgeries a week. We hope many more veterinary surgeons learn this gold standard lifesaving technique as this disease effects 8 million dogs in the US alone.