Medtronic failure rates

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This is the valve that I have. This 20 year plus is in patients 65 and older. I wish there was a study on younger patients with these valves so I had some idea on how long it might last in me.

Kim

For you, it will last for life. You got enough on your plate. ;)
 
The numbers for Biocor are excellent, from being available in Europe for so long. The earliest Edwards bovine valves have passed 22 years now, with some still implanted, but I don't know percentages.

Best wishes,
 
I was wondering if everyone with a Mosaic valve had seen this thread? http://www.valvereplacement.org/for...ARB-(such-as-Cozaar-and-similar-prescriptions)

And I was wondering if there are others here with a Medtronic Mosaic valve who have also been put on one of these medications?

I wonder if there could be any connection with these medications and the possible problems with the Mosaic valves.

When I first got the valve, things looked pretty good for the first few years.

But also, when I was first put on Micardis, about one year post-op, I recall feeling less-well. I didn't recognize any specific problems with the medication, no recognizable side effects, but my health got worse after a few years on it. But I addressed those health issues through my family practice doctor. I never thought that the health issues could possibly be caused, or contributed to, by the hypertensive medication.

How many of us go to a cardio for all things related to our heart, including medications, and then a family doctor for the other stuff?

My family doctor didn't realize that I was cumulatively developing and displaying side effects from the hypertensive med; and simultaneously, my cardio didn't know I was having the other health issues. Happily, my small town pharmacist set me down the right trail, by recognizing the prescriptions the family doctor was trying and knowing the side effects of the hypertensive med. Excellent man!

So, as I've been thinking about Tobagotwo's thread, I was wondering if there are others here with Mosaic valves who have been put on medications within the same hypertensive medication family.

Any thoughts?
 
Good Point Nancy.

The EARLY Bovine Pericardial Tissue Valve recipients are at or approaching 20 years of service. NO ONE to my knowledge has had ANY Tissue Valve for 30 years and NONE of the Improved Tissue Valve Manufacturers have even speculated that 30 years of service would be possible with a tissue valve.

The Doc that suggested 30 years with a tissue valve was "Blowing Smoke".

Well, we had some comments on this not long ago in another round of tissue vs. mechanical, and I posted something similar to what Nancy said when someone else posted they were told by their doctor that they'd get 30 years from the valve.

My feeling is not only is that doc blowing smoke, but I wanna know what he's smoking. :eek2:
 
Well, we had some comments on this not long ago in another round of tissue vs. mechanical, and I posted something similar to what Nancy said when someone else posted they were told by their doctor that they'd get 30 years from the valve. . .
Not intending any type of debate,

Because most of us [would rather have had a healthy heart but] are at least relatively happy with our personal valve replacement choice,

But something that impressed me when I first joined this site was a thread entitled "One Valve For Life?" The information in that thread was that a mechanical valve (which by itself in a lab can last for a very long time), when in practical application connected to living tissue, they may need replaced sooner than people might think -- 30 years was what that member was told he could expect from a mechanical valve. Of course there are exceptions, both ways. Also, over the years here, I have occasionally read of people with tissue valves that have already lasted either side of 30 years.

Edit: If you are interested, here is the link to that thread, "One Valve For Life?" http://www.valvereplacement.org/for...e-valve-for-life&highlight=one+valve+for+life
 
Several threads can be found with "Medtronic" in the title using the 'Advanced Search' feature (titles only).
Be sure to specify "any date" in the lower left box.
One such thread reported a failed Medtronic Mosaic Valve after 5 years (by LLJ?)

To the best of my knowledge, the Bovine Pericardial Tissue Vavles were first introduced just over 20 years ago.
The 'new and improved' Porcine Tissue Valves have been out for less time.
The only tissue valve that I can think of that may have been around for 30 years are unmodified porcine valves which typically needed replacement after 8 to 12 years.
 
Also, over the years here, I have occasionally read of people with tissue valves that have already lasted either side of 30 years.

Can you remember the names of those that had tissue valves that lasted that long? 30 years is a very rare thing. I know of only one person, Tbone, and his wasn't implanted in the heart, but outside of it.
 
It's entirely possible I'm barking up the wrong tree about those medications.

And I'm not an all-knowing encyclopedia of information about the origins of tissue valve implantations :)

But, in 1979, when I had my coarcation repair, the doctors at Houston discussed taking my bicuspid out then and they were discussing a tissue valve at that time for me. Happily my valve wasn't bad enough at that time though. That was 31 years ago.

A few years later my paternal grandma had a porcine valve implanted in the aortic position, I believe about 1985.

A point of logic is that people with tissue valves from that time period are less-likely to be members of a newer Internet forum such as this, at least until they may be again needing a new valve.

Now I'm sure I've read that the bovine Carpentier-Edwards valves have been around even before that point when my grandma had her AVR.

Yes, here is an excerpt from a jtcs.ctsnetjournals pdf regarding the CE Perimount type of valve, which I think were second generation at that time: "Clinical investigation of the Carpentier-Edwards stented bovine pericardial bioprosthesis (PERIMOUNT;Edwards Lifesciences LLC, Irvine, Calif) began in 1981."

Oh, and the people I've read about here, with those long lasted valves, were mentioned by at least two other members who met them or knew them.
 
I think it may be reasonable to get 30 years for a tissue valve if it's implanted in someone 65 or older. To expect that in a 20- or 30-something, seems unrealistic to me.

Can someone here clarify when bovine valves came into use? I've poked around a little bit but haven't found it. I'm guessing maybe early 80s? That's why these statements from doctors saying you can get 30 years with a bovine valve concern me because I don't think there's been any research to confirm it.
 
well i would like to think both valves last 30 yrs, cricky lets not be so negative about this, wheres all the positive vibes? ok maybe your tissue or mech wont last a lifetime but do we need to bang on about it all the time, lets live for what we have been given now and thank the great surgeons for giving us that time, 5 10 15 20 25 30, nobody nobody nobody can give us a defenite answer so lets hope for the best ................30YRS..........:)




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well i would like to think both valves last 30 yrs, cricky lets not be so negative about this, wheres all the positive vibes? ok maybe your tissue or mech wont last a lifetime but do we need to bang on about it all the time, lets live for what we have been given now and thank the great surgeons for giving us that time, 5 10 15 20 25 30, nobody nobody nobody can give us a defenite answer so lets hope for the best ................30YRS..........:)

Neil not trying to be negative, there isn't any data supporting the statement and I only know of one person that had one last that long. Would you like to be a newbie and told that you'll get 30 years out of your tissue valve and have it last less then 15?
 
Neil not trying to be negative, there isn't any data supporting the statement and I only know of one person that had one last that long. Would you like to be a newbie and told that you'll get 30 years out of your tissue valve and have it last less then 15?

My point exactly.
 
Out of curiosity, I did an Advanced Search for Keyword "mosaic" (specify "any date") and quickly found several reports of Early Fairures of the Medtronic Mosaic Tissue Valve, from Bob H (a.k.a. TobagoTwo) after 5 years, LLJ after 5 years, ????? after 1 year 7 months. There were other reports of 'damage' from Lily and others.

I recall reading of other early Tissue Valve Failures, even as early as 1 year and some reports of less than one year from a non-member Nurse I know. One 1 year failure was of a "Hancock" Tissue Valve from a Foreign member.

There is an interesting Early History of Heart Valves that can be found by doing a Google Search for "Carpentier-Edwards" which points out that the early Tissue Valves were from Human Donors (presumably deceased) and the early Mechanical Valves were Ball and Cage designs in the 60's and 70's. The author (M.D.) then discussed other developments stating which came next etc. but failed to give actual dates. Hopefully someone can find the actual dates that the Bovine Pericardial Tissue Vavles were approved by the FDA (I'm thinking 1988-1990 based on the 20 year study results from early trials). I'm not sure when the 'improved' Porcine Tissue Valves were developed and approved but I'm pretty sure it was well after the Bovine Pericardial Tissue Valves were approved.
 
I'm curious,and since this is an older thread, not hijacking someone trying to make a decision for an upcoming surgery this looks like a good spot.
I personally can't imagine any younger person being told their valve WILL last 30 years or even 20. Most of the people I see say their doctors mentioned anything about 20-30 years are people in their 60s. But even then they know a tissue valve can need replaced sooner. I always think you should hope for the best but make sure you will be fine if things don't turn out that way and your valve (or any surgery) fails much sooner for any reason. Heck Justin's dacron conduit that should have lasted forever needed replaced in 2 years.
I know most of the people that have had their valves over say 15 years, most likely would NOT be a member of a forum that is strictly for heart valve replacements, that was started a while after they had their valve replaced, since most look for a group when they are having issues or looking at another surgery. I know a few people that like TBone, were born with complex CHDs and have had their tissue valve pretty much since childhood, I don't know exactly how long, but well over 20 years. They are usually on the right side. Maybe there is more older (as far as time since they had their heart issues, surgery not actually their age) people who join CHD groups, since it covers all congenital heart defects and what goes along with it and often part of their CHD involves 1 or more valves, but they are usually looking for info on something else, or as adults looking for other people "like them" who grew up having heart surgeries. (I am NOT saying well over 20 is average or to be expected, just that I know of some)
Also valve surgery itself isn't even THAT old (about 50 years) and many of the people that have had any of the earlier valves, even those that had them replaced later have passed on all ready, many from old age and other non heart related reasons, but some because of their hearts.

I see the question about how old are the bovine or porcine valves every so often see people bring up the fact there can't be THAT many people that have had their valve long since they aren't that old, which is fair.
What I know about the Bovine perimount off the top of my head is CCF and 3 other places in the US started using it in trials in 81 (29 years ago) and they were following quite a few people, BUT this was a 2nd generation valve, so I'm not sure when the 1st generation started being used, (or if anyone is still alive with it) and of course this shows one of the big problems, by the time you do have the long term (over 25 year) data on any valve, it usually is outdated because their is a newer model with a much shorter track record in people.

But when I was reading this thread, it made me wonder, most people including ME, say if you get a mechanical valve it SHOULD last your life time. BUT when I was thinking about people who had their tissue valve a long time, I started wonderring the same about the mechanical valves.
Do the valves they use most today,(SJM, ATS, ON-X, Carbonetic) have a REAL track record and Data of lasting 30 or more years in many people? I personally can't think of many people (I know Dick has had his mechanical valve over 40 years, but that isn't used any more) who have had their original mechanical valve over 30 years and it hasn't been replaced. I know ON-X HOPES to last well over 30 years in patients, but believe it has a while to go. I know everyone says the "gold Standard -tried and True" mechancical valve is the St.Jude, but when I did a quick search of their site, to see when this valve started being used, I found "More than 1.9 million St. Jude Medical mechanical valves have been implanted worldwide during the past 25 years,* making them the most widely used and well-studied valves available." http://health.sjm.com/heart-valve-answers/treatment-options/heart-valve-replacement.aspx
That seemed short to me, so I looked at pubmed quickly and from what I found, (in the US) it looks like the gold standard SJM, started being used in people around the same time the 2nd generation Perimount was. I found some early 2 year results from 83 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15227147 Tex Heart Inst J. 1983 Mar;10(1):11-6.
The St. Jude medical valve: early clinical results in 253 patients.
Duncan JM, Cooley DA, Livesay JJ, Ott DA, Reul GJ, Walker WE, Frazier OH.
and a 25 year study from a couple months ago http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20417752 Twenty-five year experience with the St. Jude medical mechanical valve prosthesis. that started in 79
BACKGROUND: We evaluated all adult St. Jude mechanical valve recipients at our institution since the initial implant in January 1979 and now present our 25-year experience. METHODS: Nine hundred forty-five valve recipients were followed prospectively at 12-month intervals from January 1979 to December 2007. RESULTS: Operative mortality was 3% in the aortic valve recipients and 5% in the mitral valve recipients. Follow-up was 95% complete. Among aortic valve recipients, late actuarial survival was 81% +/- 2%, 59% +/- 2%, 41% +/- 3%, 28% +/- 3%, and 17% +/- 4% at 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 years, respectively. Twenty-five-year freedom from reoperation, thromboembolism, bleeding, and endocarditis was 90% +/- 2%, 69% +/- 5%, 67% +/- 3%, and 9% 3 +/- 2% respectively. Among mitral valve recipients late actuarial survival was 84% +/- 2%, 63% +/- 3%, 44% +/- 3%, 31% +/- 3%, and 23% +/- 4% at 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 years, respectively. Twenty-five-year freedom from reoperation, thromboembolism, bleeding and endocarditis was 81% +/- 10%, 52% +/- 8%, 64% +/- 6%, and 97% +/- 1%. Freedom from valve-related mortality and morbidity at 25 years was 26% +/- 7% and 29% +/- 6% for aortic and mitral valve replacement, respectively. Freedom from valve-related mortality was 66% +/- 8% and 87% +/- 3% for aortic and mitral valve replacement, respectively

Maybe someone else knows how long the mechanical valves that are being used today have been around? I didn't check ATS, Carbonetics, because I'm pretty sure the SJM is the oldest in use, so that's the one I looked at
Since many people do choose a mechanical valves in the hopes of it lasting their lifetime, it would be interesting to know if there is alot of data out there showing many patients have had their same mechanical a few valves decades.
 
Here is an abbreviated History of the development and use of Pyrolytic Carbon in Mechanical Heart Valves taken from my copy of a Short Biography of Jack Bokros, Ph.D. who was involved in the development of the material for an application in the Nuclear Power Industry (NOT the Space Industry as is sometimes erroneously reported). (Bolding below is mine)

1963
Discovery of isotropic pyrolytic carbon

1965
....... (confirmation that) pyrolytic carbon has favorable (blood contact) properties.....

1968
The first pyrolytic carbon heart valve component is produced at General Atomic Company (GAC) for the Debakey aortic heart valve and implanted in 1968.

1972
GAC produces the first carbon disk occluders to replace metallic and polymeric components. Pyrolite Carbon becomes the preferred material for occluders.

1976
St. Jude Medical, Inc. (SJM) approached GAC in 1976 to develop an all carbon heart valve replacement.
The carbon components for the first SJM valve implanted valve produced in 1977.

1979
Dr. Bokros formed Carbomedics (CMI) in Austin, Texas. Pyrolytic carbon components are produced for SJM, Duromedics-Edwards, Bjork-Shiley, Omniscience-Omnicarbon, Medtronic-Hall, Bicor and other valves.

1985
Dr. Bokros files patents that cover two pivot designs.
One has been employed in the original CarboMedics valve.
The other was licensed for use in the ATS Medical, Inc. valve.


1989
Carbon Implants, Inc. (Cii) is formed to improve carbon-processing technology.
A major advance in control of the pyrolytic process expands the potential of the process.
Dr. Bokros envisions the potential of the new carbon and the possibility for use in a generational advance in heart valve replacement.

1994
Medical Carbon Research Institute (MCRI) - the new carbon is named On-X carbon.
With the wisdom and experience of the MCRI team, Dr. Bokros designs the On-X Prosthetic Heart Valve
focusing primarily on the elimination of stasis and turbulence leading to reduction of blood trauma and clotting.

1996
The first implant of the On-X Valve.

2001
FDA approval of the On-X valve is granted (for use in the USA).

2006
FDA approves first ever reduced anticoagulation study, PROACT.
 
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