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Heart Valve Replacement

What is valve replacement?

The valve must be removed in case of severe damage to the valve and most usually it involves the mitral or aortic valve. It is also used for treating any other valve disease which can be life-threatening. In some cases, the patients may require replacement or repairing of more than one valve.

There are two kinds of valves which can be used for valve replacement:

Mechanical valves are generally made from the materials like carbon, plastic, or metal. These valves are strong and they last for a longer time. Because blood tends to get stick to these valves and will create blood clots, to solve this problem the patients with mechanical valves need to take blood-thinning medicines called as anticoagulants for the rest of their lives.

Biological valves are made from a xenograft which is generally an animal tissue or it is taken from an allograft or homograft which is generally a human tissue of donated heart. In some of the rare cases, patient’s own tissue can be used for replacing the valve which is called as an autograft. Usually, patients with biological valves do not require to take the blood-thinning medicines.