Pulmonary valve

[laurad37]

I meet with the surgeon in a couple weeks and I thought I saw somewhere that with the PVR you have to use a tissue valve. The cardio said they would use a pig or cow. Can you use a mechanical one on the PVR?

 

[kfay]

It is not recommended to use mechanical for either the pulmonary valve or the tricuspid valve. The pressures are much lower on this side of the heart which makes the chance of forming a clot much higher.


Kim

 

[laurad37]

Thank you Kim. That does make sense. Thank you so much.

 

[abbanabba]

Yes, it does seem that a mechanical is not an option for the pulmonary valve at this stage, however Medtronics are developing a conduit (or something like that) which can be placed via catheter when the valve starts to decline, which they are hoping can delay the need for OHS for PVR by 8-10 years. If you Google "Medtronics pulmonary valve" you can probably find a link. If they get the results they are hoping for (or better) it may drastically reduce the number of OHS's we may need to go through.


A : )

 

[lcwhitney]

My pulmonic valve is mechanical. My first was a homograft but it lasted les than 2 years.
Lettitia

 

[Lynlw]

Yes, it does seem that a mechanical is not an option for the pulmonary valve at this stage, however Medtronics are developing a conduit (or something like that) which can be placed via catheter when the valve starts to decline, which they are hoping can delay the need for OHS for PVR by 8-10 years. If you Google "Medtronics pulmonary valve" you can probably find a link. If they get the results they are hoping for (or better) it may drastically reduce the number of OHS's we may need to go through.


A : )

It's called the Melody valve if that helps

 

[abbanabba]

Ah... thanks. It's been a while since I looked into it and got the impression it was more of a staving off measure for OHS than an actual valve replacement - perhaps I misunderstood what they were telling me.