Heart Valve Replacement
Sometimes heart valves can’t be repaired and must be replaced. This surgery involves removing the faulty valve and replacing it with a man-made or biological valve. Biological valves are made from pig, cow, or human heart tissue.
Man-made valves last longer and usually don’t have to be replaced. Biological valves usually have to be replaced after about 10 years. Unlike biological valves, however, man-made valves require you to take blood-thinning medicines for the rest of your life.
You and your doctor will decide together whether you should have a man-made or biological replacement valve.
Please note: Patients receiving a mechanical valve replacement will be required to take a blood-thinning medication daily for life to prevent blood clots from forming on the prosthetic valve.
To replace a poorly functioning heart valve. The valve can be narrowed and obstruct blood flow (called Stenosis), or it can be floppy/leaky (called Insufficiency). Properly functioning heart valves are essential to direct the flow of blood thru the heart, and to maintain a normal workload for the heart. The most common heart valves surgically replaced are the mitral valve and the aortic valve.
This surgery is an open-heart procedure to remove the poorly functioning (either Stenotic or Insufficient) valve, and replace it with either a mechanical (synthetic/man-made) or a tissue (biologic/from another organism) valve. The pumping and oxygenation function of the heart is taken over by a heart-lung machine during the surgery, and medications are given that briefly paralyze the heart (Cardioplegia). This way, the heart is completely at rest while the surgeon performs the replacement surgery.
In the Operating Room (OR), under general anesthesia.
The surgery length of time will vary based on which valve is replaced, the type of replacement valve, the patient's underlying medical condition, etc, but a good estimate for Valve Replacement Surgery is 3 - 6 hours.