Mechanical Valve type that Fits you

[Guest]

i am having aortic valve replacement in 3 weeks and have decided on a mechanical valve. When asking my surgeon about the Medtronic and on x valves I was told they usually go with st. Jude. Plus they have to pick based on what will fit you. I've never heard of not having the option. Is that common? I also, for reasons I am really unsure of am a little weary of the st. Jude. Any good experiences with that would also be appreciated.

thank you

 

[dick0236]

The St. Jude has been around for a long time and has a proven track record. Once the patient makes the decision on mechanical vs tissue the doctor should play the primary role in valve choice. I personally believe the valve that the surgeon is most comfortable with is the valve I would choose.......I really don't want my surgeon practicing with new equipment at my expense.

 

[pellicle]

Hi "Guest"

its a little unsurprising as generally not all shops stock all brands of shoes, which is a much smaller outlay than stocking all brands and all sizes of all valves (even though there are far less valve types than shoes).

Sticking with the shoe metaphor valve sizing is a precise thing and so one of the surgeons jobs is to accurately size and fit your valve. Your foot (unlike your heart valve) is clearly visible and perhaps you already know your size. Yet you need to try shoes on in case they don't quite feel right. Same thing with valves. There is a thing called Patient Prosthetic Mismatch (PMM) and that has significantly negative consequences if got wrong. So calculations are needed to get within a range, then surgeons experience is needed to get it right within that range.

Myself I echo Dicks views above and will say that once its in there you won't be "showing it off in your driveway to your friends" ... its just in there doing its job. St Jude has a good reputation which is hard to beat. (myself I have an ATS but I didn't really care significantly what went in as long as it worked well)

 

[pellicle]

.......I really don't want my surgeon practicing with new equipment at my expense.

isn't that why its called "medical practice"?

Where I live the cemetery is right next to one of the main hospitals

 

[wxman]

My surgery was a number of years ago...but I was not offered any choice of valve. St. Jude's is what they used and were comfortable with. If I wanted something different I would have to go elsewhere. The valve has been working well for nearly 14 years.

 

[marvsehn]

I also spent much time over deciding what type of valve and which. I ended up with a St. Jude mechanical primarily due to my personal situation with the space around the aorta. The Dr. first tried a bio valve but it was to large. Then the Dr. went to a low profile mechanical valve. The St. Jude valve was the best fit. Prior to surgery the Dr. and I had many discussions about the valve type and we had agreed on the sequence for surgery, first a bio valve and if there were some issue then a mechanical.

I am very happy to have a mechanical valve. Never wanting to go through that surgery again is fine with me. The warfarin takes a bit of getting use to but I self test each week and have bee quite successful in keeping inr between 2-3. I am very active and cycle, ski etc. At 66 this all seems to work great. It has been exactly one year since my surgery.

 

[DachsieMom]

I research everything like crazy but in this instance, whatever the surgeon wanted to use was fine with me. I have a 21 mm st Jude valve with conduit graft. We never even discussed it, other than mechical vs bio. I think your doctor would know what fits best. I expect it may also have to do with what he or she is comfortable using, but as others have said, I want the doctor to be used to using a particular valve.