On-X For Mitral Valve Replacement?
Vivan has severe mitral regurgitation and is preparing for mitral valve replacement surgery. She is currently considering several different valve types (tissue, homograft, mechanical) and valve brands (Edwards, Medtronic and St. Jude Medical).
Vivian’s question to me is, “Adam - Can you tell me about the On-X valve for mitral valve replacement?”
For those of you who are not familiar with the On-X heart valve device for mitral replacement, here is some basic information for you:
- On-X was founded in 1994 and is located in Austin, Texas. It also owns Medical Carbon Research Institute in Hanover, Germany.
- According to the On-X valve website, the primary focus of On-X is (i) Continually improve pyrolytic carbon coating technology along with supporting processing and inspection technologies, (ii) Advance the level of prosthetic heart valve performance while reducing the level of patient valve-related complications, and (iii) Provide additional cardiac surgery products that uniquely improve patient care.
As for its valve offerings, the On-X® Prosthetic Heart Valve for mitral replacement is a pure carbon bileaflet heart valve prosthesis. One of the most interesting attractions of the On-X valve is that in January of 2006, the FDA approved the first-and-only IDE (Investigational Device Exemption) lowered anticoagulation trial for a mechanical valve to be conducted at 40 sites in the United States for the On-X® Prosthetic Heart Valve.
The patient groups in the PROACT (Prospective Randomized On-X Clinical Trial) study include a non-warfarin group of low-risk aortic valve replacement patients and two low-dose warfarin groups of higher risk aortic and mitral valve replacement patients.
In case you missed that did not make sense… The significance of the On-X trial is that patients may obtain the benefits of a mechanical valve (duration, lower reoperation) without the risks of clotting problems due to lower Coumadin (Warfarin) dosages. I have also heard that some patients are taking Plavix / aspirin instead of Coumadin in an ongoing On-X trial.
According to the company, over 50,000 On-X valves have been implanted since 1996.
I hope this give you some background on the On-X valve for mitral replacement. Over the years, I have spoken with many patients that are happy with their selection of the On-X valve. If you have an On-X replacement valve, please Leave A Comment below and let us know your thoughts!
Keep on tickin!
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 an actual heart valve surgery patient. To learn more about Adam and his heart valve surgery book, click here.
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August 27th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
I have a 23mm ON-X aortic valve that was implanted on 8-16-08. I am on low dose coumadin at the present and am expecting to go to aspirin and Plavix soon. I have not had any problems other than noise, I hear it clicking away mostly at night or when it is really quiet. It is supposedly quieter than other mechanical valves so I would hate to hear one of those. I do have really good hearing though. My 13 yr old daughter can hear me from across the room though no one else in my family can. We have fun with it, the noise that is.
Good luck with your operation. KT
November 13th, 2008 at 12:14 am
I had a 23mm ON-X aortic valve replacement for a 23-year old high turbulence Bjork-Shiley 21mm on 11/3/08. Bjork-Shiley had a high INR requirement, was highly destructive as well as less efficient than even a St Jude by half an order of magnitude. I suffered intermittent atrial fibrilliations for the majority of the 23 years I had that implant and the sound was substantially louder and simpler. A simple click-clack is now a very quiet overlapping click->click pause. Outgrowing my previous valve I incurred signifigant hypertrophy which was corrected during the on-x replacements. Also, I never suffered from headaches or migranes (without exceptional fever or poison).
February 21st, 2009 at 3:58 pm
I have an ON-X mitral valve that was put in 15 months ago.
So far so good. I feel better after a recovery year. The intitial recovery was 2-3 months. It took about a year to feel better than before the surgery. The ON-X valve seems fine-It can be noisy in bed at night when I lay on my back. I recommend strongly that you get a home test kit to measure INR level weekly.
March 4th, 2009 at 10:42 am
I had a redo mitral valve surgery in 11/2006. I have a 25mm On-X mitral valve. This new valve is now leaking. I am looking at a 3rd surgery. This valve is leaking. According to the TEE performed 2/11/09. There is moderate regurgitant jets coming off the sides of the closing bileaflet structures. There is also a moderate/severe central regurgitant jet.
August 1st, 2009 at 7:37 pm
I had an ON-X Mitral valve and a porcine pulmonary valve put in on July 6, 2009. I already can tell a difference in my breathing. The On-X valve is noisy when it is quiet. But I would rather hear a nice steady beat then all the leaky noises. The only problem I had is I am not a pain person and my ribs hurt soooo bad. But I guess that goes with the saying…no pain no gain….Thank God for giving doctors and other people the knowledge to fix heart valves!!
December 1st, 2009 at 1:51 pm
I was diagnosed with Mitral valve prolapse on October 20, 2009. A few days later, I found myself in the OR having an ON-X 30mm valve installed in place of my own heart valve. I’m 37 years old and never thought I’d be going through the recovery process of an opn heart surgey. I LOVE the ticking noise that my valve makes. I look forward to hearing every second of the day. I find it’s the cadence for my new life. Thank you Adam. Without your book, my Mom would not have felt so at ease with this whole process. I thank God for all the prayers and support from my friends and family. Also, i’m grateful for this new ticking sound. Come to think of it, it’s not so bad after all.