Tissue Valve thumping/clicking sound?

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neo

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 20, 2013
Messages
128
Location
Nashville, Tennessee
Hey everyone,

I had a Trifecta 29mm Aortic valve put in 3 weeks ago today. So far, recovery has been very good, just trying to gain some weight back. My blood pressure is excellent and heartrate stays between 70-80s most of the time. The one different thing I've noticed is that I can feel my valve closing now, and can hear it through my head and neck at times. I've listened through a stethoscope and hear a fairly loud thump/click every time it closes. I guess I may not be use to a competent valve, but also wondering if any tissue valve people out there experienced this similar feeling. It gets more pronounced when I breathe in deeply too. I have a Dacron ascending aorta, so that probably has something to do with it.

I appreciate any feedback regarding this feeling, and if it eventually goes away?

Thanks!
 
Hi neo,
I'm sorry you are going through this situation. I cannot say that I have ever heard of felt my valve opening or closing, but then again, I was not given any type graft at surgery time. Have you spoken with your cardiologist? Are you thin or just normal weight? These situaton should be brought to your doctors attention if for nothing more that to give you some peace of mind.
Wishing you well as you continue down this road to recovery.
 
Neo my heart would pound for the first few months after my first surgery and I could feel this in the base of my neck/top of the sternum, I could never hear it only feel it. Once my heart remodelled to normal I no longer had this sensation. With my second surgery I had an Aortic graft and in the first few months following surgery I could feel the same pounding heart beat in my neck if I held my breath. I can now rarely feel my heat beat even if I hold my breath. I have never heard my heart with a tissue valve, I am silent running. :biggrin2:
 
Tissue Valve thumping/clicking sound?

Emu, thankyou very much for posting. I can't really hear mine either, but I can feel it so much that its as though I can hear it. Mostly I feel it pounding first thing in the morning after waking up. I did have some LVH, so perhaps like you said, when the heart shrinks back to normal size, I'll feel it less. Thanks again very much!!
 
I felt and heard loud pumping and thumping with my new valve after my surgery (especially when lying down on my left side) The doc. also said it was my heart remodelling. I was surprised by this as I had a tissue valve implanted. Slowly and with time, things settled down and I am not longer aware of this.

Hope things get better for you.
 
I had a sensation that resembled a metronome ticking in the base of my neck for some time after replacement with a Edward's bovine, but the issue resolved with time. I thought it had something to do with the increased blood flow as a result of the new aortic valve; however, I've never experienced any sound or sensation that made me believe it originated with the valve.
 
I have never heard my tissue valve and if I felt it when it was first implanted, I have forgotten in the five years since. If it had been pronounced, I am sure I would remember as it was my second OHS.
 
Neo,

My last OHS was for a pulmonary valve replacement. I had a tissue valve put in. At first I also had a sensation of the valve closing and hearing it "click". I knew that I had a tissue valve put in, but the sensation was so pronounced that it almost seemed similar how people described having a mechanical valve. I do not know how long it lasted, but 3 years out I have none of those sensations. Pre-op I could feel every heart beat, now I feel very few heart beats.

Debbie
 
Hey Neo,

Hello! I had my AVR a little over 5 weeks ago, and I opted for a tissue valve and also have the dacron sheath. While I can't say I hear any "clicking" noise, I sure hear my heart "thumping" pretty hard, to the point it kinda resonates into the base of my neck at times. I wasn't expecting this at all after my surgery. The funny thing is, it beat really hard before surgery, now beats hard in a different way and that takes some getting used to. Bottom line: Let your doctor know about it. But--I've read several accounts of this happening after surgery and would bet your cardiologist will tell you this is normal, and will decrease as your heart "shrinks" back to it's normal size. I just try to ignore it and not think about it too much. Hard, I know. Good luck!
 
Tissue Valve thumping/clicking sound?

Thank you all. I feel better after reading these. i guess it's probably normal to feel the beats after surgery. Maybe "clicking" is not the best descriptive word for what I've felt the last three weeks, but I do like the "metronome" analogy. The feeling seems to correlate with the closing of the valve, and I feel it most in the morning when I wake up. I can definitely feel it the most when I breathe in an hold my breath. When I feel it, to me, I imagine my valve is slamming shut as opposed to closing softly. But as the day gets going, and if I breathe normally, I usually don't feel it as much. Maybe it's echoing through the Dacron sheath, reverberating against my wind pipe, or maybe my heart hasn't settled in and remodeled just yet. I just wanted to be sure the valve was functioning ok.

Whatever the case, I guess this is pretty normal. My left ventricle was dilated to about double the volume before surgery due to the regurgitation. Maybe once it remodels, the beats won't be felt as much.

So another question regarding LV dilation, has anyone experienced your LV shrinking back to normal after AVR? If so, how long did it take?

Thanks again!
 
Neo I was surprised how quickly the remodelling started. Before my first surgery the LV was 8cm. Given that it was 8cm at the time of surgery there was some doubt about how much remodelling would take place due to the extreme enlargement, however the first echo post surgery was done at 4 days and it had already shrunk to 6.5 cm.
The echo that was done 1 year post surgery showed it was back at 4.6cm within normal range.
 
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Tissue Valve thumping/clicking sound?

Wow, that is really great Emu... Did you have Left Ventricular Hypertrophy or LV Dilation? As far as I understand, hypertrophy is when the muscle gets bigger. Dilation is when the chamber size gets bigger. I have a dilated left ventricle. What about you?
 
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