{"id":140,"date":"2007-08-23T21:42:45","date_gmt":"2007-08-24T02:42:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/2007\/08\/23\/cow-valve-replacement-surgery-bovine-valves\/"},"modified":"2025-05-10T10:05:28","modified_gmt":"2025-05-10T15:05:28","slug":"cow-valve-replacement-surgery-bovine-valves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/2007\/08\/23\/cow-valve-replacement-surgery-bovine-valves\/","title":{"rendered":"Cow Valve Replacement Surgery – Bovine Valves"},"content":{"rendered":"

I will never forget my first interview with a heart surgeon.<\/p>\n

My cardiologists – Dr. Wyman and Dr. Chaikin – had already confirmed that my aortic valve was suffering from severe stenosis and regurgitation. As they both told me, I needed a new valve and I needed it soon.<\/p>\n

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The first surgical interview I held was with Dr. Alfredo Trento<\/a>, the Director of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Hospital in Los Angeles, California.<\/p>\n

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Dr. Trento’s office was six stories up and looked across the Hollywood Hills. It was quite impressive.<\/p>\n

“I’ve looked at your film Adam,” Dr. Trento said as he sat down in his leather chair, “You definitely need a new valve.” He continued, “Now you have some options. You can select a pig valve. You can select a cow valve. You can select an artificial or mechanical valve. Or, you can opt for your own valve using the Ross Procedure.”<\/p>\n

I’ll never forget that moment. I gazed over at my mom who was sitting two feet away from me. “A pig valve? A cow valve?” I questioned Dr. Trento, “You mean I could have a cow valve used to replace my diseased aortic valve?”<\/p>\n

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Cow Valve Replacements Explained by Dr. Trento<\/h2>\n

Dr. Trento went on to explain that cow valves have been used for many years as valve replacements. By some, strange twist of evolutionary coincidence, our valves and cow valves are similar in tissue physiology. That makes them a frequent choice for heart valve replacement.<\/p>\n

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\"Dr.Dr. Alfredo Trento<\/a><\/p>\n

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Although I opted for a different surgical approach – I underwent the Ross Procedure – I was always curious to know more about bovine valves and who manufactures them. It is quite an odd curiosity, I admit, but it exists. Plus, I needed to better research cow valves for my book.<\/p>\n