Tissue Valvers. How Old is Yours?

[haggis basher]

Hi Sarah-Louise
Sad to hear that your Aortic valve is 'leaking' after such a short time; how does it affect your quality of life?

I had my AVR 10 months tomorrow, and being honest, I am beginning to 'challenge' life again. Being divorced many years,
allows me to do most things that if I had a 'family' I would need to be more responsible. Being 72 next month: who knows how long one has on this planet
See Ya
Brian

 

[epstns]

Do we have any statisticians on the board? It might be interesting to analyze long-term data to see how our population does with the various valves, given the ages at which they are implanted. Of course, one would have to monitor the members over a long period of time to get a meaningful evaluation, but it would be interesting.

 

[johnnycake23]

Mine is 4 1/2 years old. Had echo last week and doc gave me the "all is clear, see you next year" message. Echos done annually, cardio visits bi-annually.

 

[H.E.pumper]

Brand spanking new St. Jude Trifecta at age 63 on D-Day, 2012 (June 6th). Next echo in scheduled in a few months.

Tom

 

[JUST-WAITING]

My ATS (horse) lasted 6 months- I have had my piggy (Medtronic model 305c25) going on 9 months. Doctor says I am fine - come back in a year.
Sorry I have been off the site for awhile- but this has taken a toll on me. If I had it to do again -I probably would have gambled on the Ross procedure. Has anyone on the site felt more emotional issues lasting from their nightmares ? I feel like I need to "gut it up " and move forward. But I hope time heals this wound. Maybe two surgeries in 6 months juust was an overload. Thanks guys

 

[FC in Texas]

CE bovine aortic valve here. It's just a youngster at three and a half months old. First baseline/check up echo in a couple of weeks.

 

[hikergrrl]

I got my Edwards porcine valve in the mitral position a little over 3 years ago at age 43. Thus far, echos look good - no sign of leakage at all. My cardiologist expects it to last more than 10 years, but I am more afraid of the period of decline than the surgery and will be begging for a new one at the first sign of degradation. I was severely symptomatic for 10+ mos before my surgery, it was hell, and I NEVER want to feel like that again.

 

[H.E.pumper]

I got my Edwards porcine valve in the mitral position a little over 3 years ago at age 43. Thus far, echos look good - no sign of leakage at all. My cardiologist expects it to last more than 10 years, but I am more afraid of the period of decline than the surgery and will be begging for a new one at the first sign of degradation. I was severely symptomatic for 10+ mos before my surgery, it was hell, and I NEVER want to feel like that again.

Why didn't you get a mechanical valve which should last a lifetime? OHS with its long, anguishing recovery is a debilitating process I only want to go through ONCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tom

 

[Debbrn]

My first PVR was a cadavar aortic valve at the age of 25. It stayed in me 19 years. IMO it was worn out long before then. My CE bovine valve in the pulmonary position is just over 2 years old. I was 44 when it was put in. The docs stretch out my surgeries as long as possible because I have had 4 surgeries so far. I recover pretty quickly, but of course there is a risk with any surgery.

Debbie

 

[Bina]

This is a hugely interesting thread even though at this time I have a mechanical valve.

 

[Jkm7]

Why didn't you get a mechanical valve which should last a lifetime? OHS with its long, anguishing recovery is a debilitating process I only want to go through ONCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tom

With all respect, Tom, there is no guarantee a mechanical valve will last a lifetime. We have members here who have had their mechanicals replaced. But, yes, there is a far better chance for a mechanical to last longer than a tissue in younger patients.

There is no bad valve choice IMO
We all choose the one we feel is best for ourselves for our own reasons and our particular condition/circumstance.

 

[OldManEmu]

Tom

OHS with its long, anguishing recovery is a debilitating process....

I didn't find the second surgery recovery as long as the first, after 2 months and clearance from the surgeon and cardio I felt very much back to normal and returned to spin classes 3-4 times a week. I have had a number of broken wrists in my younger days and broken limb takes this long to recover from so I didn't consider it a long recovery time.

 

[neil]

with respect tom, mech valves can fail and you only have to look on here to see that, why the negative content on a tissue based thread?

 

[mmarshall]

I am one of the "older" tissue valvers that do not get on here very much but since it's slow at work....:smile2: I was 31 when it was installed and it has been a little over 7 years now. I get yearly checkups with echo although that just started with the last checkup...use to be 6 month checkup with yearly echo. Everything is looking great so my cardio wanted to start doing yearly checkups. Hope that gives some of you newbies good vibes if you have the same type of valve/root replacement as me. :thumbup:

 

[JAMES W]

There is no bad valve choice IMO
We all choose the one we feel is best for ourselves for our own reasons and our particular condition/circumstance.

Well said, Jkm

 

[Bina]

with respect tom, mech valves can fail and you only have to look on here to see that, why the negative content on a tissue based thread?

Hi Neil, just to clarify.....the actual mech valve itself doesn't usually fail, but the sutures that attach it to the aorta may come loose if
the aorta tissue is compromised. Or the action of the mech valve can be hindered by pannus overgrowth around it.

If either of these things happen to me several years down the road from now, I will definitely be looking into the latest tissue valves
as a possible replacement. The future looks very bright indeed
Great thread !

 

[johnbell]

This is my first post. My aortic homograft valve is now 9 years old. It was installed by Dr. Gosta Pettersson at the Cleveland Clinic. This was my second heart surgery; 1993 – CABG x 5 ; 2003 – CABG x 2 and aortic valve replacement for a stenotic bi-cuspid aortic valve. My new valve came from a 29 year old donor killed in a car wreck. Dr. Petteersson used a section of the donor’s aorta and root to prevent any dilation of the root after surgery. The valve is functioning perfectly with no sign of calcification and no leaks. In fact is works better than my 3 native valves. As a runner this valve is serving me well with a normal pressure gradient across the valve providing excellent hemodynamics. I follow Dr. Esselstyn’s “Whole Food Plant Based Diet” with no added oils. I also follow a strict exercise protocol I developed to grow new arteries in my heart. I strength train 3 days a week and do cardio 7 days a week with my interval protocol that takes my heart rate to 90% of maximum daily. My last CT scan showed 5 of the seven bypass grafts to have died and calcified. My last nuclear stress test showed no sign of ischemia in my heart at 100% maximum heart rate and normal profusion.

 

[Jkm7]

Johnbell,

That's an amazing history and post.
Obviously, your strenous exercise protocol and careful diet have served you very, very well.
Wishing you continued success with your lifestyle.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[lee1lpool]

Hi guys,

I had a Prostheric tissue valve fitted to replace my tricuspid valve. It lasted 11 years, had a scan in Feb 2012 which showed stenosis & narrowing resulting in severe tricuspid regurgatation. This will be my 2nd OHS aged 42. I was 31 when I had my first valve replacement. I`m very systomatic at the moment, sleeping alot, breathless, dizzy, exhausted usual stuff. I`ve been here before, was very systomatic before my first surgery. Then after my recovery, I`ve had 10 great years. My tissue valve served me well. Hope my next tissue valve is as good as my first. Great thread,

All the best guys,

Lee from UK

 

[Debster]

My mom had her mitral valver replaced with a medtronic oinker in April, 2005. She was 64 at the time. She is 71 now and had an echo this afternoon which looked great-yay! She has a bivent pacer-on plavix and aspirin. Knock wood-no serious events-so grateful! Deb