Heart Valve Surgery
Heart valve surgery or aortic valve replacement is
a surgical process by which a malfunctioning aortic
valve of the heart is substituted by another valve.
CAUSES
An aortic valve can malfunction due to some disease
in two ways:
– |
Aortic insufficiency or regurgitation
where the valve becomes leaky |
– |
Aortic stenosis where the valve becomes partially
blocked |
DIAGNOSIS
The two above conditions generally show symptoms of
chest pain, breathing problems, dizziness or faintness.
These indicate that there is a severe narrowing of the
valve, which needs to be urgently replaced to prevent
a fatal heart condition. However, there is a dilemma
of whether surgery is required if there are no definite
symptoms, in which case the doctor may follow a wait
and watch approach till the symptoms show up.
THE PROCEDURE
Heart valve surgery is generally an open heart kind.
Percutaneous surgeries are being researched for valve
implants with a catheter and without open heart surgery,
especially in cases where open heart surgery is a high-risk
procedure.
TYPES OF VALVES
There are two types of artificial heart valves that
substitute the ailing valve.
Tissue Valves
There are again three such valves:
– |
An animal heart valve tissue or animal
pericardial tissue |
– |
A human aortic valve (a homograft) donated by
some other patient |
– |
The patient’s own pulmonary valve (the Ross
procedure or pulmonary autograft), which replaces
the aortic valve |
Mechanical valves
Mechanical valves are highly resilient and require a
single surgery, though they may show complications such
as blood clots. Hence, a patient is often prescribed
anti-coagulant (blood thinning) drugs for a lifetime.
POST SURGICAL CARE AND RECOVERY
The patient must stay in an intensive care unit for
12-36 hours and another 4 and 10 days in a cardiac surgery
ward, unless there are some complications. It takes
1-3 months for a sturdy patient to be back to normal
life. Post surgical care includes avoiding heavy lifting
for 6-8 weeks.
|
