Jill writes to me, “Hi Adam - My world is upside down right now. My dad was just told that he has [1] aortic valve regurg and needs a prosthesis valve (or at least I think that is what he said). Can you help me understand what all of this means? Plus, I’m a visual person. If you have any pictures of a valve prosthesis that would be great.”

From Jill’s description, it appears that her father is in definite need of [2] a heart valve replacement. That said, Jill’s father will need a prosthetic valve transplant to enhance the flow of blood through his heart.

According to Heart Health Online, a prosthetic heart valve is a replacement for a diseased or dysfunctional heart valve. There are two types of artificial valves:

• Mechanical heart valve - A mechanical heart valve prosthesis is made of man-made materials. The advantage of mechanical valves is that they can usually last a lifetime. They do not wear out the way natural or biological valves do. Here is a picture of a Medtronic mechanical heart valve replacement.

• Biological heart valves - A biological heart valve prosthesis is made from tissue taken from animals or human cadavers. These bioprosthetic heart valve replacements are treated with preservatives and sterilized for human implantation. Here is a picture of a Edwards Lifesciences biological heart valve.

I know that is a very, very, very simple description of the two types of prosthetic heart valves. To further your inquiry into prosthetic heart valves, I have included several links to other blogs about valve prosthesis.

• [3] Mechanical Aortic Valve Replacement Options
• [4] Trade-offs Between Mechanical and Biological Valve Replacements
• [5] Latest Technology In Aortic Valve Replacement Prosthesis
• [6] Information about pig (porcine) valve replacements
• [7] Information about cow (bovine) valve replacements

I hope that helps answer Jill’s question about valve prosthesis. Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Keep on tickin!

[8] To learn more about Adam and his heart valve surgery book, click here.