Diagram of Mitral Valve Replacement With Mechanical Valve
I don’t know about you…
But when my first cardiologist, Dr. Bad Bedside Manner, told me that I needed open heart surgery due to my defective bicuspid aortic valve… I went into mini-shock.
Then, the stoic doctor, with the red nose, rapidly spewed a flurry of foreign words at me: calcification, leaflets, stenosis, regurgitation, ejection fraction, blah, blah, blah, blah.
“Enough medical mumbo-jumbo!” I remember thinking as Dr. Bad Bedside Manner continued to tell me that death was lurking in my future. “Please show me what you are talking about!”
I can’t help it. I’m a visual person. I often need to see things to understand them.
For that reason, the cardiologist who I would never see again, grabbed a fake, plastic heart and pointed to the problem area - my aortic valve. He then began promoting open heart valve replacement surgery and the various biological / artificial valve types available to me - pig valves, cow valves, human valves (aka homografts) and mechanical valves.
The discussion referenced above occurred in three minutes. Again, I was in mini-shock.
Considering there are many new patients and caregivers at this website, I figured you may be experiencing what I experienced… A need to see a picture, a diagram or an illustration of a heart valve replacement.
As you can see above, I placed a pretty good diagram which illustrates a mitral valve replacement with a mechanical valve. So you know, I inserted many other images, pictures and illustrations in this website and my book to further help you better understand your heart, your heart valves and the realities of heart valve surgery.
I hope this diagram helps you better understand heart valve replacement surgery.
Keep on tickin!
Adam Pick is the 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 an actual heart valve surgery patient. This special book was designed to help patients and caregivers better understand the realities of heart valve surgery (heart valve replacement and heart valve repair), to minimize patient stress and to enhance the patient’s recovery. To learn more about Adam’s heart valve surgery book, click here.
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June 25th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
Hi there thank you for making this blog i am having open heart surgery on July 8th to replace the mitral valve I want to get your book before I go in! Hope your doing well!
July 17th, 2008 at 10:00 pm
dear adam,
my name is hisham and my father has something wrong in his heart but i cant understand what exactly is it?
but after making a check up that was the conclusion printed….
please advice if any dangerous situation…
Comment: preserved dimensions of the left ventricle with good left ventricular functions, mild aortic stenosis, mild aortic regurge, mild mitral regurge, no regional wall motion abnormality at rest, normal right atrium and right ventricle with no evidence pf pulmonary hypertension.
Conclusion:
Aortic valve disease.
Mild mitral regurge.
Concentric left ventricle hypertrophy