Getting close to my 10 year mark

[mjd414]

this July will be 10 years since I had my aortic valve replaced with a porcine valve at Mount Sinai Hospital in Miami Beach Florida. I am thrilled to say that the 10 years has been a non event but now I am getting nervous about the life expectency of "porky"! Can anyone share their experience with respect to how long I can expect to have before I need a second replacement. Also, does anyone know if there have been advancements made with replacing the aortic valve with robotics!

Thanks for any info you can provide
MJD414

 

[Duffey]

Hi, it probably depends in part in on your age at the time of replacement. If your exams and echos are all good, you probably don't need to worry for awhile. Congrats on almost 10 years!

 

[epstns]

MJD - Don't forget what we learned when waiting for the first replacement. Other than rare catastrophic failures, aortic valves give fairly long notice before they get bad enough to replace (again). My point is that as long as your statistics are fine now, it will be "a while" before you even have to consider another valve. My original bicuspid valve was watched for over 9 years after diagnosis, before it was replaced. As long as my annual stats are stable, I'll not begin the worry process yet.

 

[DebbyA]

Welcome, MJD414!

I think you've asked a question we all wish we had the answer to. Adding on to Steve's answer, my cardiologist said the indications for a re-replacement, even with worsening statistics, are "Symptoms, symptoms, symptoms".

Just curious, but what are your aortic gradients?

 

[mjd414]

Hi DebbyA,

My last few gradiants were 76 and the cardiologist was a bit concerned but I contacted the surgeon and he said that was absolutely fine! I'll go with his comments, since he is the guy that put the valve in!