How long do Dacron grafts last?

[gadoty1]

Anyone know how long Dacron grafts are rated for? I was so worried about makinf the right valve choice that I never thought to ask about that. I guess there is no choice for aortic root replacement is there? Oh well already done anyways but I was just think about my lovely mechanical valve that should last forever and it occurred to me that the graft might not. I can't find much info on Dacron grafts online but i'm sure some of you know about them.

 

[escargome]

Just got off the Cleveland Clinic chat regarding valves. They have an on-line nurse that maybe you could direct your question to.

 

[piehole4]

Perhaps raise the question with your cardiologist at the next visit. I received a valved graft of the aortic root last June and was told that the device should last a lifetime.
___________
AVR June 4, 2008
St. Jude Medical Valved Graft
Flagler Hospital, St. Augustine, FL
Dr. Derek Muehrcke

 

[Duff Man]

I was told by my prospective surgeon that the graft will outlast me. He doesn't know I plan on living for like 110 years though.

 

[Ross]

A dacron graft will out last you. That is the correct answer.

 

[Bryan B]

Well after doing some research (btw I do not have an aortic graft) I did find an article that states that defects or deterioration of the dacron fibers in a graft may become severe enough to need replacement. It sounded to me like this was a very rare occurrence. Most likely if you ever needed the graft replaced it would be for other reasons (one possibly being surgeon error when implanting it...also very rare).

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/121443611/abstract

Now that I've scared everyone sufficiently that have aortic dacron grafts my work here is done.

 

[Ross]

A dacron graft will out last you. That is the correct answer.

I also was told that by Dr. Patrick McCarthy.

 

[gadoty1]

Well thats a relief! As long as my pulmonary holds up i'll be good for quite a while. I hope that by the time something happens to it I will not need OHS to fix it. Maybe I should start a new thread for this but has anyone had problems with aching legs and restless legs after valve replacements? Whenever I lay down to try and take a nap or go to bed my legs start aching like i need to keep moving them around. If I lie on my sides it's not as bad but it keeps me up at night. Maybe it has to do with coumadin or just the fact that my legs are getting a lot more blood flow then before?

 

[ALCapshaw2]

Well thats a relief! As long as my pulmonary holds up i'll be good for quite a while. I hope that by the time something happens to it I will not need OHS to fix it. Maybe I should start a new thread for this but has anyone had problems with aching legs and restless legs after valve replacements? Whenever I lay down to try and take a nap or go to bed my legs start aching like i need to keep moving them around. If I lie on my sides it's not as bad but it keeps me up at night. Maybe it has to do with coumadin or just the fact that my legs are getting a lot more blood flow then before?

Are you familiar with Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) ?

Do a Google Search and I'm sure you find LOTS of information on that subject. (and yes, it is a good idea to start a new thread when your change topics).

'AL Capshaw'

 

[Duff Man]

I actually handled a graft at the University of Michigan. It was surprisingly small and it felt like, i dunno, a regular piece of tightly woven polyester fabric with tons of tiny little accordion like pleats in it. It seemed durable to me...

 

[Bryan B]

I also was told that by Dr. Patrick McCarthy.

Ross,

I was not trying to dispute you or Dr. McCarthy. I was actually trying to find a link that corroborated that the actual dacron sleeve will last longer than the patient so I could post it here. I couldn't find one (not that there isn't one out there) but I did find this brief synopsis about a dacron sleeve that developed multiple "non-anastomotic aneurysms in a bifurcated double velour knitted Dacron aorto-bifemoral graft". Unfortunately the website required that you to pay for a subscription to read the entire article about this case. That's why I said I'm sure it's very rare...about as rare as a mechanical valve company producing a faulty valve that fails.

 

[Duff Man]

I think a failure of the dacron product itself might be unheard of. But things happen more frequently like what Bryan mentioned, or a graft infection, or something like that... even those situations are pretty rare.

 

[terodac]

Me to! I was told my St Jude valve and graft would out last me! LOL! I pray that is true! I had the bentall procedure! I think the valve and graft was one piece! He cut me and then wrapped it around the graft! for long life! Now if I can last at least 20 to 25 more years I am good to go!

 

[Duff Man]

Yeah, the valve should technically outlast you in a perfect environment, but pannus growth over the valve can happen...

 

[aussigal]

A dacron graft will out last you. That is the correct answer.

PHEW!...Oh good...I never even thought about that until right this minute...I think its funny that it never ocurred to me before now ..

I do remember hearing and seeing on my 64 slice CT scan that the dacron gets covered in our own tissue...

 

[Ross]

Ross,

I was not trying to dispute you or Dr. McCarthy. I was actually trying to find a link that corroborated that the actual dacron sleeve will last longer than the patient so I could post it here. I couldn't find one (not that there isn't one out there) but I did find this brief synopsis about a dacron sleeve that developed multiple "non-anastomotic aneurysms in a bifurcated double velour knitted Dacron aorto-bifemoral graft". Unfortunately the website required that you to pay for a subscription to read the entire article about this case. That's why I said I'm sure it's very rare...about as rare as a mechanical valve company producing a faulty valve that fails.

Not a problem Bryan. I'm merely interjecting what I was told and by whom, that's all. I've searched on the issue before and never even found that, so thanks for posting it.

 

[dixitworld]

I am posting on this thread after long time of inactivity , but would like to know what is the observation of all members on durability of graft. I am 32 and Cardiologist of Cleveland clinic said to me after this surgery i should be lucky to live an more days after 20 years

 

[DDT77]

I am posting on this thread after long time of inactivity , but would like to know what is the observation of all members on durability of graft. I am 32 and Cardiologist of Cleveland clinic said to me after this surgery i should be lucky to live an more days after 20 years

currently about 9 months into use a onyx with root graft, and additional tube into the arch. At three month followup, surgeon said that about 5% of patients need some rework due to fatigue of sutures (connecting grafts, and connecting graft to native tissue). This was around conversation around resuming pushups, where he said not to, with associated elevated bp stressing sutures. My engineering self then started thinking of stress concentration and fatigue characteristics in warm, moist environments... not cool...

anyway, if there were better ways, they would be implemented. present approaches has been used (with incremental improvements) for some decades. Below is link to article from 1964 on the topic.
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamasurgery/article-abstract/562897

If not for modern cardiac treatments, i would have been first dead more than two decades ago, I am now on third life, and just at 40 years of age. Some have but a single try, others get temporary reprieve(s). Take each day as it comes, and try to use them wisely...

 

[pellicle]

Hi

wow ... talk about dig up a zombie thread ...

I am posting on this thread after long time of inactivity

so, is the "the research" you were mentioning in your earlier post? You just found these posts in this thread?

Interestingly this thread (from 2009) has posts from 2 of the most respectable (IMO) posters this forum has. Al Capshaw and Ross. They are both highly informed and educated people who research with veracity that which was written with veracity.

So lets start with the first one potsted by DDT77 above

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamasurgery/article-abstract/562897

written in 1964 I'm not even sure that any of the materials it discusses would be in manufacture today, its nothing more than a historical vignette in todays analysis. I'm sure that (like all manufacturing) the findings and results of stuff done nearly 50 years ago would long ago have been woven into the iterative cycle of development which occurs (study Toyota for instance).

Next the more recent article which is filled with words that I had to look up
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1046/j.1442-2034.2002.00147.x

its dated from 2008, so as a historian its only ten years out of date, and again I'd venture that in the intervening 10 years that incident was studied ad nauseam ... publications tend to be written about the exceptions worthy of study (not the general issues, unless one is writing on how they've discovered how to fix them) The article says:

The cause of non-anastomotic graft aneurysms is most likely due to a basic structural failure in the graft, as a result of defects in fabrication, Dacron fibre deterioration or a combination of both

so its conjectural at that point, and I'd suspect a batch issue or a manufacture issue ... uncommon. It goes on to simply discuss repair options.

you say:

, but would like to know what is the observation of all members on durability of graft. I am 32 and Cardiologist of Cleveland clinic said to me after this surgery i should be lucky to live an more days after 20 years

without knowing anything more about your health situation that sort of statement is an indicator that the guy is an arrogant AR5EHOLE. I can understand dick0236 being told that his (at that time relatively untested experimental) valve may not last his life (although he's recently had his 51st anniversary ON THAT EXACT VALVE), but not anyone modern saying stuff like that.

I propose that dickhead has put the willies up you and to be frank I'd see someone else.

Its true we just don't know how long we get ... heck I know people who died of cancer in their 30's who if interviewed in their 20's wouldn't have expected that in their futures, so unknowns are always there. But to attempt to be GodLike and predict that I'd really want to know what else is wrong with you to give him such certainty (and even then it would be statistical).

So bottom line (in my vew) is ... you're probably going to be just fine.

Best Wishes

 

[Superman]

Lifetime guarantee, baby! That’s what I’m banking on!