It is very unlikely. However, if you suspect that you might be allergic to polyester, titanium, or nitinol, you should discuss it with your surgeon who may arrange for testing prior to your surgery. No. These electrical and magnetic fields are too weak to significantly heat or displace the valve or annuloplasty ring.

The valve housing and leaflets are made of Pyrolite carbon, a unique form of carbon which Carbomedics engineers discovered in the sixties. Attached to the carbon housing is a reinforcing band of titanium and attached to the titanium band is a suture ring of PET fabric. A metallic nitinol wire holds the titanium ring to the housing with an interference groove system.

It is very unlikely. However, if you suspect that you might be allergic to polyester, acetal homopolymer, acetyl copolymer, glutaraldehyde, formaldehyde, silicone elastomer, or animal tissue, you should discuss it with your surgeon who may arrange for testing prior to your surgery.

long as the valve has not been exposed to blood or tissue, the CarboMedics valve can be steam resterilized once at the hospital. There is no latex in the valve or in the packaging. Furthermore, valve assemblers do not wear latex gloves.

Passing a catheter through the valve is not recommended because the catheter can cause damage to the valve that may or may not be immediately apparent. With prosthetic devices the catheter will also induce regurgitation and alter hemodynamics. With tissue valves this does not happen to a significant extent ? transvalvular manipulation of a catheter may be done if needed to assess transvalvular pressure gradients.

Based on accelerated wear testing in the lab and on measurements made on explanted valves, the valve will last between 100 and 400 years. The CarboMedics valve has experienced zero post-surgical mechanical failures in nearly 500,000 valves sold.

All CarboMedics mechanical heart valves have been tested in a 1.5 and a 3.0 Tesla MRI system for excessive heating and displacement. Displacement did not occur and heat effects were negligible. Some image distortion can occur in the vicinity of the valve. For more information, click here. Valve patients undergoing ANY dental procedure should be considered for prophylactic treatment. Please consult your physician about this prior to visiting a dentist.

There are four pivot washing jets; one for each of the four pivots. The jets are most easily seen in the mitral valve. Using transesophageal echocardiography allows one to see how the appearance of the jets varies when viewed from different angles (A). When the pivots are on either side of the display screen, the jets converge over the center of the valve. When the valve is viewed across the pivots with the pivots in the center of the screen, two jets can be seen diverging (B).

CarboMedics mechanical heart valves are never explanted because they wear out. The expected wear life of the mechanical valve is between 100 and 400 years. Bioprosthetic valves can wear out. If this occurs, the valve must be replaced.

CarboMedics recommends that surgeons and cardiologists follow the recommendations of the Sixth ACCP Consensus Conference on Antithrombotic Therapy for bileaflet mechanical valves. The recommendations are for an INR of 2.0 to 3.0 for aortic valves and 2.5 to 3.5 for mitral valves. The attached website contains protocols for several methods of thrombolysis: http://www.csmc.edu/cvs/md/valve/lysis.htm

All CarboMedics mechanical heart valves have been tested in a 1.5 and a 3.0 Tesla MRI system for excessive heating and displacement. Displacement did not occur and heat effects were negligible. Some image distortion can occur in the vicinity of the valve. For more information, click here.

There are many factors to take into consideration when deciding to have a valve replacement procedure. While many people are able to participate in activities they had not be able to perform when their condition worsened, the failure of some recently introduced products that emphasize that we cannot create the perfect heart valve to replace what you already have. You need to be thoroughly aware of the choices available to you. The risk from cholesterol medications is really quite low.

When a patient needs a heart valve replacement, two types are available, mechanical and tissue. Tissue valves are made of either cow (bovine) tissue or pig (porcine) tissue. Mechanical valves are made from materials such as ceramic-coated graphite, metal, or plastics.

The beauty of a mechanical valve is that it never wears out. There have been, however, extremely rare instances of component breakage that causes failure. Knowing this, MCRI has taken every precaution to reduce the possibility of such occurrences, and none have been experienced. Another possible cause of valve failure arises from tissue that overgrows the valve and interferes with its function.

The patient's age, activity level, gender, as well as their medical condition and the possibility of future surgery are some of the determining factors for the implantation of a tissue valve or a mechanical valve. In 80-90% of the cases, most tissue valves continue to operate, depending on the age, activity level and the health of the patient. They are more commonly used in the elderly, because of a less active lifestyle and slower metabolisms, and in women of child-bearing age.

All patients receiving any heart valve implant have experienced a valve disease process. Thus they need continuing appropriate medical care and this may include anticoagulation, blood pressure control, management of heart failure, diabetes, weight reduction, etc. Given excellent care the Carbomedics Mechanical heart valve will not fail structurally and will last a lifetime.

It is very unlikely. However, if you suspect that you might be allergic to polyester, silicone, barium sulfate, titanium, or nitinol, you should discuss it with your surgeon who may arrange for testing prior to your surgery. No. These electrical and magnetic fields are too weak to significantly heat or displace the valve or annuloplasty ring.

Yes, it is possible. I think some dogs have been known to react to Flaxseed oil. If this is what you are using, you may want to try fish oil as an alternative source. Back to top of page

The liklihood of clots is extremely low with proper maintenance of anticoagulation. Blood clots come in two forms. Thrombosis refers to blood clots that stick to the valve and can stop the valve from functioning. Thromboembolism refers to blood clots that break free and travel downstream where the clots can block critical arteries, resulting in critical injuries such as brain damage.

You should determine that both leaflets are operating properly and that flow is not occluded by pannus, vegetation, or some other physical blockage. Valve function is fully assessed by echocardiography and the indices of valve function corrected to body surface area in order to assess potential valve/patient mismatch. Echocardiography also analyses valve leaflet motion and the anatomy of cardiac and aortic structures.

On a size for size basis, Mitroflow valve gradients are similar to those obtained for the standard St. Jude and CarboMedics mechanical valves. However, the Mitroflow valve should be compared to the CarboMedics Top Hat Aortic Valve because, like Top Hat, the Mitroflow valve allows up to a two-size increase over the size of a standard valve.

The primary advantages of the Mitroflow valve are performance and durability. The Mitroflow valve provides the hemodynamic performance of a stentless valve while reducing the need for long cross-clamp time and complex implantation technique. The unique mounting of the pericardium on the outside of the stent allows for maximum valve opening and optimum blood flow. The sewing cuff allows placement in smaller aortic annuli, resulting in better hemodynamics.

Heart valve damage, which is also called valvulopathy, is the most common damage caused by the combination of phentermine and fenfluramine. In most cases, this occurs when the heart-valves do not close properly, which causes a leakage of blood at the valve (also known as regurgitation). While this is not usually a serious problem, if the valves are badly damaged by the Phen Fen, pulmonary hypertension may result. This type of hypertension is known as SPH or Secondary Pulmonary Hypertension.

Heart valve damage ("valvulopathy") is the most common injury from the use of fen-phen. Valvulopathy occurs when the heart-valves (typically the aortic and mitral valves) do not open and close properly, causing regurgitation of blood. If the valves are seriously impaired, secondary pulmonary hypertension may result.

It's possible that certain ingredients contained in some of our products could be among those you are allergic to. So, if you know the names of the substances you're allergic to, you can find out which products contain them by using our search facility Ingredient Info. This will allow you to obtain a listing of the products that contain these ingredients so you can avoid them.

Most mechanical heart valves are made from a graphite base coated with a biocompatible ceramic-like material. Some are made with metal and/or plastics. Most consist of a outer ring with either one or two movable leaflets inside that open and close to control the flow of blood.

Depending upon the severity of both the attack and of the subsequent scarring, a heart attack can lead to any the following: heart failure, irregular heart rhythms (arrhythmias), cardiac arrest (which could lead to sudden cardiac death), cardiogenic shock (an often-fatal shock-like state) or death.