Mechanical Heart-Valve Replacement

The flow of blood through the heart is controlled by four valves. If any are not working correctly, blood cannot flow or be pumped effectively to the heart. The four valves are: the tricuspid, pulmonary semilunar, mitral, and aortic semilunar. There are many abnormalities or defects that can affect their operation and in this paper, I will discuss the most common one which is a “mitral valve prolapse.” A valvular prolapse is an abnormal protrusion of a heart valve that causes the valve to not close completely. It is also known as “click murmur syndrome” and “Barlow’s syndrome” and is more prevalent in women than men. It has a strong hereditary

It was established that the patient’s symptoms were due to an aortic regurgitation this was confirmed by echocardiogram. The use of the SOAPIER model is an effective means of providing rationale for a holistic clinical decision making. The findings and treatment options were discussed in a multidisciplinary meeting including Mr Jones and family. The family were informed that surgery was the safest treatment option. Complications that could happen with or without surgery were also explained ensuring that the patient had adequate understanding to make a valid choice about his treatment. Mr Jones agreed that a replacement of the aortic valve with a mechanical valve was necessary, thus it last for more than twenty years or more . Mr Jones

Defects in the valves of a heart can lead to regurgitation, and stenosis. Common symptoms include angina, shortness of breaths and heart failure. These defects affect the heart functionality. As a result, artificial heart valves are used to replace these defective valves. One artificial heart valve is the St. Jude Bileaflet valve.

This was a retrospective, descriptive, and correlational study. Data from the records of patients who had undergone a heart catheterization or PCI over the span of two years was retrieved from the Clinical Automated Office Solutions database. (Dumont, Keeling, Bourguignon,

The authors of this article explore the importance of and latest advances in transitions of care programs for patients with Heart Failure (HF). The authors paint a clear picture about the scope of the problem and go on to discuss some of the most well-known and researched transitions of care interventions in current practice. Although many of these interventions have been successful, the authors report fact that programs vary in organizational framework, team composition, and program focus. Programs are also noted to differ based on population size and care

A doctor may also suggest treatment later in a person’s life, if the disease worsens. If a cardiologist suggests medical treatment, two options include: Mitral Valve Repair or Mitral Valve Replacement. “If the patient chooses to have Mitral Valve Replacement, he or she should find a surgeon who satisfies three criteria; the surgeon should have a 90 percent or greater rate of successful repair, should have an extremely low rate of death from surgery (less than 1 percent) and should be proficient in operating with less invasive approaches, if your surgeon cannot provide these sorts of numbers, you need to move to another” (Gillinov 326). By reconnecting valve leaflets a surgeon can perform Mitral Valve Repair (mayoclinic.org). A surgeon can also remove excess tissue from the valve for a repair (mayoclinic.org). “The traditional approach to most aortic valve problems is to open the chest, remove the old valve, and sew in a new one” (Gillinov

diagnosed with an irregular sized heart and mitral valve prolapse, which would have to be monitored

This past Friday in the cardiac catheterization lab I began my day with continuing the work that I was previously assigned to do last week where I collected the data of patient's Cardiothoracic surgery. I continued to familiarize myself with the different types of Cardiothoracic surgery procedures, however, the specific reports I was working with, they are called TAVR report (Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement). I later learned and was explained to, the TAVR multiple procedures and its causes, which is aortic stenosis. As for the procedures, a valve needs to be placed in the heart and each procedure delivers it a different way. The three ways the valve can be placed in the heart is through the heart's femoral artery (the transfemoral approach),

The use of relevant heading and subheadings was essential in making the paper flow and follow a systematic format. The purpose section of the paper was brief and lacked clearly articulated information regarding the research problem. The authors’ had a theoretical/conceptual framework laid out within the paper. Looking at the effect of physical activity, different stages of CAD, and outcomes of the physical activity levels within the study comparing the three participant groups’ outcomes. The authors’ did draw on theoretical rationales that showed a relationship between the variables from cited information; for example, identifying that reaching daily physical activity recommendations but being sedentary throughout the rest of the day will impact the CAD patient’s cardiovascular health (Buijis et al., 2015). They did identify the concept of the paper within the purpose statement and showed a direct correlation between cardiac rehabilitation and expected comes of each group. The evidence from the study was beneficial in the cardiac rehabilitation education arena. The authors’ clearly highlight the importance of education, cardiac rehabilitation support to maintain participation and the significance of physical actively for each of the participant groups. It would have been beneficial to see a portion of the paper that would explain how to better support the patient who suffered from a cardiac event. The recommendation throughout the paper were informal and were cited from other sources. It would have been helpful if the authors’ would have made a recommendation section to address what could be done in improving the physical activity levels and projected health outcomes of patients diagnosed with

Two hours to transplant this heart, BP 140/90 mmHg, life or death and it is all in my hands. “Scalpel”. It takes many attributes to become and maintain the occupation of a cardiovascular surgeon. Such as the amount of schooling it will require, the amount of emotional stability it will take to pursue this career, lastly dealing with the loss of a patient. Cardiovascular surgery is a challenging but rewarding career to be interested in or be a part of. Amidst researching Cardiovascular surgeons and answering my questions, to soon realize the answers were met with more questions. I came across a book called Advice for a young surgeon by John C. Hall. Which offered great first-hand information on the daily life of a Surgeon and starting your career. Also numerous other interviews and articles. My aim by the end

which the patient’s health will be significantly affected by the lack of proper blood flow,

Due to heart valve replacement surgery being a risk of death, patient life expectancy is a major criterion to be considered. Life expectancy, ability to take anticoagulants, compliance and available facilities for monitoring INR, lifestyle, risk of bleeding, patient preference, and risk of reoperation should all be considered in choosing a valve substitute, although in clinical practice patient age is most often the determining factor. Studies have shown that age between 60-65 years is when the benefits of mechanical valves shift to favor the use of bioprostheses (Silberman, 2008).

The first task force provided recommendations for identifying patients who may receive an LVAD. Potential candidates should have reversible causes of heart failure addressed prior to consideration (Class I, level of evidence A). Patients being considered for an LVAD must have their transplant candidacy assessed prior to implant due to heart transplants providing superior long-term outcomes (Class I, level of evidence A). Candidates should have their NYHA class and INTERMACS profile assessed prior to implant (Class I, level of evidence C). 4 The INTERMACS has demonstrated significance in predicting mortality and postoperative complications following the implantation of LVADs. 5 Assessing and managing comorbidities is another central component

Recovery from the surgery usually requires a few weeks in the hospital. It may also include several visits and checkups in the first year. After that, the patient usually needs only one checkup a year to make sure that the valve is still working correctly. At the checkup, the doctor will do a number of tests to see if the replacement or repair is working like it should be. If they find something wrong, they will continue to monitor the person until they find out if it is life-threating or not. If it is life-threating the doctor will do another surgery to fix it (“Aortic Valve Stenosis”). There is very little chance that there will be complications after the surgery. The chance of complications is reduced due to how common the disorder is and

The risk of embolism did not differ between tissue and mechanical valves for either the aortic or mitral valve recipients.” (S. Khan el at, 2001).The main difference between mechanical and tissue are outcomes seen between these valve types are patient at higher risk of getting hemorrhage in the aortic mechanical valve and a patient have higher risk of getting structural failure in all tissue valve replacement. “As both valve complications between tissue and mechanical valves is logical and follows from the progressively increasing rate of tissue valve reoperation balanced against a constant higher risk of hemorrhage in the mechanical valve recipients. The later crossover point of aortic valve recipients compared with that of mitral valve recipients is consistent with the higher rate of mitral valve recipient reoperation” (S. Khan el at,