DO MACHANICAL VALVES FAIL

[Gail in Ca]

Well, I thought my first aortic mechanical valve would last my lifetime, too.
My doctors said so, and I believed them.
However, a nasty bacteria called staphylococcus lugdunensis decided to try to kill me. After I was treated with a PICC line and many antibiotics, it was found that my mechanical valve had to be replaced because the tissue around the valve had been affected by the bacteria and it was leaking around the valve. So, I had a new valve in graft done only 8.5 yrs after the first mechanical was placed. The new valve was moved up along the aorta and it was larger (and louder).
So, you never know....

 

[Superman]

Well, I thought my first aortic mechanical valve would last my lifetime, too.
My doctors said so, and I believed them.
However, a nasty bacteria called staphylococcus lugdunensis decided to try to kill me. After I was treated with a PICC line and many antibiotics, it was found that my mechanical valve had to be replaced because the tissue around the valve had been affected by the bacteria and it was leaking around the valve. So, I had a new valve in graft done only 8.5 yrs after the first mechanical was placed. The new valve was moved up along the aorta and it was larger (and louder).
So, you never know....

This is the tricky part. To be fair, the valve didn’t fail. An infection drove the need for a second surgery. I also needed a second surgery after 19 years. My valve was still in good working order. I had an aneurysm.

So maybe a better answer to the OP is that mechanical valves almost* never “fail”. But they are not a guarantee against a second surgery.

*almost is not never, but it’s almost never a case where the valve itself breaks.