Re: Valve replacement options

Posted By Herb  on February 11, 1999 at 12:07:57:

In Reply to: Re: Valve replacement options posted by Susan on February 02, 1999 at 20:24:40:






My husband is 30 years old, very active and has congenital aortic stenosis.  We live in Central Iowa and he needs to have his valve replaced.  We are getting several conflicting recommendations on how and where to proceed.  We don't want to replace with Mechanical because of the blood thinner option.   And yet we are concerned with the Tissue option because of the repeat surgeries.  For someone of this age and activity level what would be best?  We have heard about the Ross procedure, but why mess with 2 valves when only one is broken?  Also the invasive surgery for Aortic replacement, what valve is used for this type of surgery?  Any guidance you could give would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks.

Hi!  I also have congenital aortic stenosis and am scheduled to have my valve replaced in 2 weeks (!).  I am a very young  51 years old, so am going with the mechanical valve because I don't want to think about replacing it either any time soon or when I am 70+ (although by then it may be a snap and I might do it anyway for some other reason!).  However, if I were only 30 and in otherwise good health, I would choose the homograph (human donor).  Minimally invasive aortic valve replacements are experimental today, but might not be so in the future in the event of a repeat.  But just for kicks, another writer at this sight, a young woman, had a tissue valve 2 years ago and she just had to have it replaced this week, but chose mechanical this time.  So you never know.  I figure we make our best choices given our lifestyle, etc., and the rest is in God's hands.  Good luck and God Bless!
Hi,
I too am faced with the decision regarding heart valves.  I am a 44 year old male in good pyhsical health except for an aortic valve that is a bicuspid valve.  I just finished a heart cath yesterday, in order to answer the question of when the valve needs to be replaced.  My cardiologist indicated my heart is a bit more enlarged than he thought based on a recent stress echo, and that my aorta is also somewhat enlarged.  He indicated that it is probably time to replace the valve, before I have any damage to the heart.  Both the surgeon and the cardiologist have indicated that a mechanical valve would be my best choice.  I am a little unclear on how long these valves last.  Should I expect that this valve would not need to be replaced again in my lifetime?  Also, I am unclear on the effects of the blood thinner and just how big a risk factor this is.  Has anyone had experience with minimally invasive techniques for aortic valve replacement?  My surgeon indicated he wasn't in favor of this, idicating he needed the room to work that traditional surgery gave, and in case something didn't go right he had full access without spendind precious time opening up the chest cavity.  Any feelings on minimally invasive techniques?
Thanks for your input.

[kwokJingLau]

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