Surgery News: Do You Need An Aortic Valve Replacement?
Surgery News: Do You Need An Aortic Valve Replacement? New Information About Porcine (Pig) Heart Valves Tuesday July 14, 2009If you need an aortic heart valve replacement, a new study has revealed important information regarding one of the types of replacement valves. Porcine valves, replacement heart valves made from the heart valves of pigs, may have a higher failure rate than expected. The study showed that 4 out of 106 porcine valves failed in less than four years when used to replace an aortic valve in the heart. The valves were expected to last between 10 and 15 years. This failure rate is especially troubling for older patients that expected the graft to last the rest of their life, and did not expect to need an additional surgery.
