“Will My Husband’s Heart Valve Click?” Asks Jodi
Selecting a mechanical or bioprosthetic heart valve replacement prior to surgery is not easy. There are pros and cons to both types of valve replacement devices. On that note, Jodi just emailed me about one side effect of aortic mechanical valve replacements… The clicking noise.
Jodi writes, “Hi Adam! My husband has aortic valve insufficiency and will need the valve replaced in the near future. We have been seeing his cardiologist every 6 months for 3 years. The cardiologist has recommended that my husband, who is 48 years old, get a mechanical valve. On Friday, when we were in the doctor’s office, we heard for the first time that you can hear the “click” noise of the valve. He has never mentioned that to us before and we are not too excited about that. Can you hear really hear the valve click inside the heart? Does your valve click? –Thanks, Jodi”
This is an interesting question that Jodi raises. So you know, I did not have a mechanical valve implanted during my aortic valve replacement surgery. However, I know several hundred patients that live with mechanical valves.
Patient reactions to the “clicking noise” is mixed. While some patient are annoyed by the click, most get used to the click. Still, there are other patients who don’t hear the clicking noise at all.
For example, here is an interesting patient story about Margaret Reese. Margaret had mechanical valve replacement surgery 27 years ago. She describes the experience of living with a clicking heart valve.
I hope this helps!
About The Author: Adam Pick is a double, heart valve surgery patient and author of The Patient’s Guide To Heart Valve Surgery, a unique book which integrates the clinical facts of heart valve surgery with the personal experiences of 78 former valve surgery patients. To learn more about Adam and his heart valve surgery book, click here.
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November 30th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
I have to comment on the clicking sound with a mechanical valve. I had a redo of an aortic valve replacement 9/16/08. My 1st valve was a bovine tissue valve replaced in 2001 in Boston. Thanks to Dr. Richard Shemin at UCLA, I had another successful surgery 9 weeks ago. I now have a mechanical valve. No one around me can hear a click. Once in a while when I lie down in bed I can feel my heart beat and sometimes hear a ‘ping’ or maybe just feel the noise. I would not worry about the sound of the valve. I feel great today, just a little soreness left in my chest, and glad to be alive.
Barbara
November 30th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
I just turned 50, and it has only been 7 weeks since my double valve replacement (mitral and aortic - St. Jude valves), plus the MAZE procedure. I am feeling terrific! Recovery has been so much easier than I ever expected. I have been truly blessed, even with the minor clicking
. I do SOMETIMES hear a small clicking noise when it is really quiet, am lying on my back, and resting. It usually doesn’t bother me, but if it does I roll on my right side and it disappears. Noone else in my family can hear it. When I hear the clicking, I also think about what my heart sounded through a stethoscope before the valve replacement. It was a heavy swooshing sound. Although I couldn’t hear it outside my body like the clicking, I know now that my heart is functioning like a real heart. I am grateful to hear that clicking when I think about how it will improve my health in the long run. I’m looking forward to what a full recovery in the coming months will mean to me.
December 1st, 2008 at 1:20 am
I just turned 30, and it has been almost 7 weeks since my aortic valve replacement (On-X valve). Both my wife and I can hear the clicking, but we both find it reassuring! Neither of my parents have been able to hear my valve clicking, so I wonder if being able to hear it is not a function of age?
December 1st, 2008 at 8:21 am
regarding the clicking noise of the mechanical valve, i had a mech vave six months ago [aortic] no one around me can hear any clicking noises i can hear it first thing in the morning only when its very quiet.
good luck with the surgury.
fazilat
December 1st, 2008 at 9:41 am
Largely because of my ‘youth’ (61) my cardiologist recommended a mechanical valve, based on its expected longevity. My surgeon, however, recommended strongly that we go tissue. I live on an island with the closest cardiac emergency care 1200 miles away, and I occasionally travel to Africa. My surgeon, Dr Louis Kanda, at the Washington (DC) Hospital Center, is from Congo, and has built a hospital with cardiac care in Kinshasa. He recommended the tissue valve because in his experience they are lasting longer than initially expected, and if they fail he expects them to fail gradually, similar to my failing aortic valve. If a mech valve fails, the patient would require immediate specialized cardiac assistance, not available where I live, nor in most of Africa. Another consideration is that choosing a mech valve obligates you to a life with blood thinners, which the bio-valve does not. I am now off all thinners but aspirin. We chose the bio-valve, recovery so far is excellent 6 months out, and we pray for the best down the road. (We were told about the click, but it was not a factor in our decision making).
December 1st, 2008 at 9:58 am
I had a mech valve installed on July 31st of this year. This valve works perfectly. The secret to keeping the valve “quiet” is to make sure that your Coumadin or Warfarin level stays in an INR range of 2.5 to 3.0. If the INR is too high you (not anyone else) will be kept awake at night with it clacking away and you will feel a pulsing sensation along with this throughout your body that will make sleeping a bit more trying. The secret is the INR… keep it within the range that is recommended and you will not even notice that it is there.
December 1st, 2008 at 10:08 am
Barbara, Allen, Adrian, Vernon, Fazilat & Susan -
Thanks for the great responses, comments, thoughts and strategies for dealing with the clicking noises of mechanical valve replacements. I know this will help Jodi and other patients / caregivers in the future!
Keep on tickin!
Adam
December 3rd, 2008 at 8:19 pm
My name is Mike and I had my valve replaced by Dr Alan D Hilgenberg at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
I had a Bovine Pericadial valve implanted in the aortic position on Feb 3rd 2006. I was 41 at the time. I was also the recipient of a shiny brand new dacron graft replacing the first 3 inches of my ascending aorta. The arch was not involved (thankfully). I do not have marfans. Like many of those who have already posted here, I had a decision to make. Fully mechanical and a life of coumadin and the lifestyle that comes with being coumadin dependent OR a bio-prosthetic and a daily regimen of asprin…and have the valve re-replaced after x years.
My decision to go with the bio prosthetic was based on the fact that I did not want to live having my blood drawn each month to monitor my blood “thinness”. Also, I am an avid off piste skiier and if I were to encounter an injury like a femur fracture on the mountain, i might bleed to death internally. So my lifestyle also played a part in my decision.
My cardiologist decided recently to put me on Crestor (a statin) to lower my cholesterol. My cholesterol was already in the normal range but studies have suggested that a lower cholesterol will lengthen the life of a bioprosthetic valve. Something to the tune of 20 years. I am hopeful but unfortunately, the outcome of this study will rely on the statistics set by mine and other’s prostethic valve failure. Keeping my fingers crossed and my hopes up…
If anyone has any questions, please feel free to contact me. My email is mikelupo AT aol dot com. I’m more than glad to assist in any way that I can.
December 11th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
I had mine replaced in 1980 a Bjory Shiley and have lived with the ticking you get used to it and it’s not like it’s even there.
December 15th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Just a quick word about mechanical valves that can save a life. I received a mechanical valve in 1989 at the age of 16. In 2007, I had endocarditise and had to have aortic (and pulmonary) valve replacement. Before the June 2007 surgery they wanted to do an MRI. I had the doctor check to make sure my mechanical valve would be able to go through an MRI. IT WOULD NOT!!! To this day, I imagine what could have happened, if I had not asked. If you have a mechanical aortic valve, have your doctor check and make sure it can go through an MRI.
December 22nd, 2008 at 6:06 pm
Not to worry about having an MRI with a mechanical heart valve. If the doctor should ever inadvertently prescribe one, the MRI facility will have you complete a long questionnaire, which always asks about implants and metal. They will not let you undergo an MRI. Most times the MRI Tech will ALSO ask about implants after the questionnaire and before the procedure. They have this covered.
January 14th, 2009 at 10:43 am
I had my second valve replacement surgery in December at the University of Michigan hospital. I am 30 years old and had the Ross procedure done when I was 17. I now have a mechanical valve and it is pretty loud. Being that I am all ready an anxious person I have a real hard time falling asleep at night. I have a check-up in a few weeks so I’ll tell my doctor about it and see if they can raise my INR which is only around a 2 right now. Hopefully I get used to it.
February 28th, 2009 at 12:04 am
I had a mechanical valve replacement in august 27, 2009 and currently taking warfarin a type of (caumodin) when i left the hospital i was on 5 mg now i am taking 12 mg because my blood level is 1.6. and I too can hear the clicking day and night and so does my family and friends. any movement I make such as go up the stairs you can hear it clicking like a time bomb ready to explode that’s how loud it is. and lately i get short of breath, my chest itch, and sore at the same time. And if I’m having a confrontation with someone I get short of breath and lifgt headed I feel tired.
March 1st, 2009 at 12:35 am
Just had a mechanical valve implanted 2/13/09 and could not be happier with the choice. I have NO clicking noise and only “feel” my heartbeat in various parts of my body when I lay down to sleep. For only 2 weeks out, I feel very good…walking 30 min. a day and doing the breathing exercises help. Coumadin is a new adventure in my life but it is running pretty stable these first two weeks around 2.65-2.9. Since I am on Medicare and they approve the in-home testing machine, will hopefully got for that in the future. I am a 67 yr old female who owns a manufacturing company and in my normal life get plenty of walking and lifting exercise so that may have made this surgery easier. But I chose the mechanical valve so that I would not have to do this again in my lifetime and after the surgery, it only confirmed that I made the right decision.
Midge
March 23rd, 2009 at 6:44 pm
i had a st judes aortic valve installed in 9/08 and i hear clicking as well. its actually comforting to me to know its working .i used to hear thumping also but that went away for the mostpart. it took me 3 months to get level on coumadin.diet and activity kept changing it.has anyone been able to see the heartbeat in their eyes? jeffstoveken@yahoo.com for any advice or questions, thanks,jeff