The heart, as described by Dr. Nicholas Dang, is a complex yet somehow basic instrument.
There are two valves on the right side and two on the left. When valve replacement is necessary, the job can be accomplished with pig or cow valves or by mechanical valves.
"The mechanical valve lasts a lot longer. And in fact, in laboratory studies, they've shown to last as long as two hundred years. The problem with it is, that they tend to be very sticky because they're foreign substances and they require what we call life long anti-coagulation with a blood thinner,” said cardiothoracic surgeon, Dr Nicholas Dang.
Not all valves are replaced.
When there is valvular disease, some times they are repaired.
New medical technology makes it possible to do this without opening the chest cavity. “Particularly with regards to the mitro valve which as I mentioned, we try to do a repair of that and there are catheter based techniques which are utilized for select patients,” said Dr. Dang.
The operative term here is "select patients."
Not all heart valve candidates will be likely patients for catheter-based surgery, and according to Dr. Dang, "the results are not as durable as surgery, but for patients who may not be optimal surgery candidates, there's something to be considered."
The mitro valve lends itself more to non-surgical repair.
But again, technology is moving forward with regard to heart valve surgery.
