What is a prosthetic valve?
Prosthetic valve refers to the valve used in or directly in front of the heart to replace the damaged, damaged or missing heart valve. There are four places in the heart structure in which prosthetic valves can be used. These are mitral and tricuspide valves and aortic valves (aorta) and lung valves.
Placement of the prosthetic valve has become quite common and is often considered one of the simpler heart repairs, although they are still serious operations. There are a number of different valve prosthesis. These include mechanical valves, alloštěp or human valves and animal valves. Each type exists with pros and minus. The use of biological tissue means that the valve provides pipes, but actually does not work as a valve. This is one of the reasons why virtually every mitral valve of the semate uses a mechanical valve. It is necessary for the valve to open and close accordingly, and this cannot be duplicated with one of the tissues, unless it is a tissue/mechanical hybrid.
When replacing aortic or pulmonary valves, the mechanical function may not be so important, and especially in the pulmonary valve, preferences for the use of human tissue valves or constructed from pig tissue appear. They will not last as long as mechanical valves, but have one clear advantage over them. Whenever mechanical valve, anticoagulation or Coumadin® (warfarin) therapy is used throughout life. This can affect the quality of life and the valve increases the risk of stroke, even in warfarin. Tissue valves do not tend to require warfarin therapy.
Prosthetic valve exchange is quite common in children with congenital heart defects. Children can be born with insufficient or stenotic valves that do not allow the heart to function adequately. In children, the most common valves are replaced by aortic and pulmonary valves, and preferences can be leaning towards tissue valves.
One of the things that is concerned about using prosthetic flaps in children is that they need future replacements. The inserted valve today can take only a few years for the child to grow. It is not uncommon for children to undergo two to three valve substitutes if they have the first at the beginning of their lives. As adults, the prosthetic valve will need to be replaced more based on how the current valve works.