Heart Valve Replacement

[TinySpark]

Morning all. Posting here for traffic.

A close family member is awaiting heart valve replacement surgery and has seen two surgeons each with differing opinions on the type of valve, bovine and mechanical.

I would really appreciate your experience on both. As we understand it, there is not the same statistical info available for the bovine valve however they would not need warfarin afterwards which is a big consideration if opting for the mechanical one.

Do you know anyone who have been through either? If bovine, how long ago was this and have they needed further surgery?

Thank you all. We are seeking further info from both surgeons but it would really help to hear personal experiences/outcomes.

My husband had a mechanical one around 9 years ago. At the same time a neighbour had a bovine one. Neighbour is now concerned that the bovine one has a limited life and he may soon have to go through surgery again.
Husbands is doing great, although I can hear it ticking when I’m close to him!
He has to have blood test every 6/8 weeks as he is on Warferin, but it’s an hour out of his day including the travel. Blood tests are more regular until they can regulate the required levels. DH has to watch what he eats in order not to affect blood levels and any illness can also upset the levels. However it’s a small price to pay to be healthy.

On a side note if your BIL does decide to go mechanical and take Warferin in is totally worth the effort to regulate eating and drinking in order to limit the number of visits for blood testing. I have a friend who is on Warfarin for another reason, she constantly diets, binge eats, binge drinks etc, so her levels are all over the place and she has to visit the clinic at least every 2 weeks as a result.

Thanks for your reply. Really glad to hear that your DH is doing well, especially on warfarin. My BIL does accept it’ll be a fairly big lifestyle change for him should he go mechanical but has said he’s okay with this. He does have a fairly physical job though and can regularly cut himself so worrying about this. Does your husband have any experience of this? Is it a big deal if you injure yourself?

It’s difficult as one surgeon is very much for the bovine valve whereas the other is advocating for the mechanical one. This is making for a harder decision.

My dad had a mechanical one fitted in 1990. We were told it would last 10years. It lasted 33 years a he died 2 years ago today. Heart surgeons are magicians!
It used to tick like a clock. It was such a reassuring sound. I miss it now ♥️

Hi OP I recently had a valve replacement after getting infective endocarditis. I also have a congenital heart defect so the valves would have been needed to be replaced anyway. Because of the endocarditis I had blood clots in various parts of my body including my legs and spleen. As I was very high risk I could only have the cow valves as with the mechanical ones there is much higher risk of developing blood clots and you need to be on medication for life but the upside of that is the valves last for a lifetime (unless something happens to them)

whereas the bovine valves last for about 10-15 years and unless there are other issues, medication won't necessarily be for life. I came so close to death I didn't care what they gave me but I'm glad I got the bovine one as I've had enough issues as it is.

Try not to be anxious (easier said than done I know!) Wear pyjamas that are comfy, make sure you have a pillow or a rolled up towel to put against your chest. This will become obvious when you cough or sneeze which is an experience but the nurses should explain this to you.
I was in hospital for a long time so was given the best painkillers but again they'll talk to you about this. As for the scarring, I had open heart surgery so I have a scar going down my chest and at first I wasn't sure what to think of it but now I love it because it's a reminder to me that I survived after getting really sick. All the best and I'm sure you'll be fine. Surgeons can do amazing things these days.

Thanks so much for the practical advice and good wishes @Sagealicious ( and others).

Dh had his done last year at 56 due to malformed at birth aortic valve. He didn’t want Warfarin so went for Bovine. I highly recommend contacting a charity called Heart Valve Voice, he spoke to someone there who was incredibly helpful and knowledgable.
The other factor for him is that he’s been assured that if it fails it would almost be certainly be able to be have a procedure called a tavi if it fails which goes in through the wrist or neck and sits inside the current valve so it wouldn’t be open heart surgery a second time.
There was a thread on here last year that I used to post on and find useful - he recovered remarkably but it was quite slow and the early days were difficult. He also developed atrial fibrillation which had to be treated but after that his recovery came on in leaps and bounds.
If he’s having new pyjamas for the occasion be sure to cut out labels - he had a very uncomfortable day where we couldn’t get to the label but it was irritating him - the least of his problems you’d think!