Could you please give me more info on your surgery for replacing the aortic valve and the aorta? How long was your surgery, was your hospital stay longer than 4 days, did it make a longer recovery time, have you had to have a second surgery yet and if so, was that surgery more complicated? Please help with this. ALSO, did you go mechanical or tissue? Thank you.
who here has had AVR and aorta replacement
- Thread starter Angel
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Philip B
Well-known member
AVR & Aortic Graft
AVR & Aortic Graft
Hi Angel,
A rather large chunk of my aorta had to be replaced when my aortic valve job was done. I opted to have a valve with a factory installed dacron aortic graft implanted. Some valves aren't available with the factory installed graft. Dacron tubing tends to be the material of choice for graft jobs.
There are advantages to a factory installed graft. One is that there's less stitch work involved. That usually translates into getting off the heart-lung machine a little bit quicker. It also reduces the number of places where potential problems with the surgeon's stitch work can occur. This said, a really good surgeon can get everything sewed together pretty quickly regardless of whether the graft requires attachment at one point or two.
Grafting from the valve root up through the aortic arch required more time and work because the major blood vessels which come off of the top of the arch have to be connected.
I think I was actually in the operating room for a little over five hours. Others have reported their surgeries being longer and shorter. I'm not sure why mine took as long as it did as my surgeon reported no complications. Maybe he was just making sure I got my money's worth. I suspect they waited for my body to cool down a bit longer than they originally planned.
The graft didn't increase the length of my hospital stay. If i remember correctly, my surgery was on Wednesday and they turned me loose on Sunday. I had to stay an additional day because they were trying to get my INR within range before letting me go.
-Philip
AVR & Aortic Graft
Hi Angel,
A rather large chunk of my aorta had to be replaced when my aortic valve job was done. I opted to have a valve with a factory installed dacron aortic graft implanted. Some valves aren't available with the factory installed graft. Dacron tubing tends to be the material of choice for graft jobs.
There are advantages to a factory installed graft. One is that there's less stitch work involved. That usually translates into getting off the heart-lung machine a little bit quicker. It also reduces the number of places where potential problems with the surgeon's stitch work can occur. This said, a really good surgeon can get everything sewed together pretty quickly regardless of whether the graft requires attachment at one point or two.
Grafting from the valve root up through the aortic arch required more time and work because the major blood vessels which come off of the top of the arch have to be connected.
I think I was actually in the operating room for a little over five hours. Others have reported their surgeries being longer and shorter. I'm not sure why mine took as long as it did as my surgeon reported no complications. Maybe he was just making sure I got my money's worth. I suspect they waited for my body to cool down a bit longer than they originally planned.
The graft didn't increase the length of my hospital stay. If i remember correctly, my surgery was on Wednesday and they turned me loose on Sunday. I had to stay an additional day because they were trying to get my INR within range before letting me go.
-Philip
How much/what section of the Aorta will they need to replace? Many people here have had the aortic valve and ascending graft. My son's valve surgery was his pulmonary valve and he had a bovine valve that they sewed dacron on in the Or (actually 2 conduit sections, it was complicated) adding the graft shouldn't change the recovery time for you.
Angel,
I had the combined aortic valve and root replacement and after a lot of deliberation chose the stentless porcine device, "the Freestyle," that Medtronics offers. (Several others in the Forum have the Freestyle as well.) My surgeon and his staff thought it was a good choice for me.
The surgery took around 5 hours. My stay in the hospital was 5 days. Surgery was in '05 and I haven't had to have a repeat (knock on wood!)....
Good luck to you as you consider your options....
I had the combined aortic valve and root replacement and after a lot of deliberation chose the stentless porcine device, "the Freestyle," that Medtronics offers. (Several others in the Forum have the Freestyle as well.) My surgeon and his staff thought it was a good choice for me.
The surgery took around 5 hours. My stay in the hospital was 5 days. Surgery was in '05 and I haven't had to have a repeat (knock on wood!)....
Good luck to you as you consider your options....
