St. Jude's Valve

[Floyd]

I had AVR in January, 1997. The point on this message relates to a friend whose husband had similar surgery in 1996 and now has developed seepage around the collar where the valve is attached (the valve itself is working fine). Her concern is whether they should repair the current valve or consider replacing it with a new valve during the surgery. What advice can anyone give as to what action they would recommend, what are the considerations and what questions should they discuss with the surgeon. Since his appointment witn surgeon is tomorrow morning I would appreciate responses as soon as possible.

Thank you all.

Floyd

 

[Nancy]

Hi Floyd-

They'll probably have to do a TEE on him to determine the extent of the leak. What they decide to do will depend on info. from this test or similar ones. Some leakage can be put off and handled with meds. and some cannot. Symptoms play a big role in whether to do surgery or not.

My husband is scheduled for replacement surgery on July 18 on a St. Jude mechanical valve in the mitral position. He's very symptomatic. His tricuspid valve (his own) is also leaking.