New valve leaking got to have surgery again

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virginian777

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 15, 2012
Messages
90
Location
hampton,va
today my dr said i had to have a 2nd surgery to replace the mechanical valve that is leaking it's only been in since april 2012 has anyone had this happen.
 
Bummer. I've only had one put in this February, but there are others here that have had the same difficulty. One person, in Singapore (IIRC), had the dreaded "prosthetic mismatch" and had it successfully replaced. Most have said it's easier the second time around. Not that it helps. Do they know why it is leaking?
 
symptoms are dizzy trouble sleeping when i lay down hear pounds and feels like a vibration all over body but doc said valve would not cause that
not sure what is causing it but can't keep this up long,no sleep
 
Which valve do you have? What size? Leaking mechanical valve sounds like a prosthesis mismatch, but how would it leak? Is a leaflet stuck?
 
TheGymGuy said:
Which valve do you have? What size? Leaking mechanical valve sounds like a prosthesis mismatch, but how would it leak? Is a leaflet stuck?
Click to expand...

It's hard for any of us to know for sure, but paravalvular leak is one pretty rare but still very real complications that can result after valve replacement. It can happen to any prosthetic valve, and is actually more common with mechanical valves (I do not know the reason, if any real reason, so it might even be just a factor of the makeup of the patient groups that have been studied) in the literature I've read. It is actually more well known these days with the introduction of transcatheter valves since it is a much more frequent complication with those types of valves. Anyway, an interesting things to me is that symptomatic presentation of paravalvular leak with a standard prosthetic valve (mechanical or tissue) is usually indicated to be anywhere from 1% to 5% while in studies that use TEE to evaluate the incidence has been shown to be up to 20%. TEE of course detects far more insignificant leaks. Also, paravalvular leak is usually more common in the mitral position than aortic.

I've read of several different causes of paravalvular leak, none of which are usually simple (like a missed suture, in other words). Infectious endocarditis is one in which the sutures around the sewing ring eventually can be disrupted. Just the technical aspects of the surgery itself can lead to it as well, though. Despite the best efforts of highly skilled surgeons sometimes the various parts just do not perfectly seal. Fortunately, in most cases, it is mild and without symptoms, but in other cases, the leak can be more pronounced.

So, virginian777, while I don't have personal experience with this, it is certainly something that does rarely happen. I'm still curious though about your symptoms. You mention things unrelated to the valve, do you have symptoms your doctor(s) are attributing to the valve leak? In other words, are they convinced that it is a severe leak with symptoms that will in fact be improved by another surgery? Now obviously, surgery is never recommended unless necessary...so just trying to understand more the specifics of your situation. Best wishes to you moving forward and please keep us posted as this develops.
 
had cardo.cath wednesday dr said heart much improved but still need to replace valve still taking lovenox shots till monday hate the shots.also they have me wareing a cardionet event monitor for the next couple weeks until a date is set for surgery.
 
Thanks for the update and keeping you in my thoughts and prayers, Virgininan777.
I do recall one of our members, Johnny underwent a second heart surgery to 'fix' a paravalvular leak on his On-X mitral valve. They managed to save the valve and repair it. Here is the link to his thread in case you were interested in reading it.
http://www.valvereplacement.org/forums/showthread.php?33686-Introduction&highlight=
 
thanks i will oh yes this time i,m getting a bovine valve how is your working out for ya any thing you can pass on would be a great help.
 
I've had bovine valve for coming up to five years and it is the best thing I could have done for myself. So far, everything is going smoothly.

Thinking of you, Virginian, and wishing you the best.
 
they did a heart cath wednesday and have already had a ultra sound and a tee test 3 cardio drs say same thing.right now i am very grateful that they are doing something to correct it,but can't wait to get off lovenox shots monday
 
symtoms pounding heart beat at night dr does not think thats the valve so he also has me wareing a cardionet event monitor main thing is the dizziness,have had 3 drs agree that valve needs to be replaced.
 
This is Weird

This is Weird

I just made a post in Aortic Valve and Tissue Disease. My valve is leaking also but they have no plans as of yet to replace it. Mine is caused from valve having to be sewn to calcified tissue. It is rated as moderate. They said if they had removed all the calcium I wouldn't have survived the surgery. I have a Medtronics Mosaic Porcine valve. The only symptoms I notice were during Cardiac Rehab when I was on the treadmill and tried to talk to the guy next to me I would get short of breath. Plus my BP runs low on the diastolic end 45-55. They don't seem to be concerned my next echo isn't till June. It has really got me kind of scared. I am almost 63. I don't take any meds for it but I do have Propranolol for if I have any palpitations. He doesn't want to put me on any heavier Beta Blockers account my BP. Hope it all goes well for you.
 
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