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Mechanical Valve vs. Tissue Valve
Need advice and experiences:
I am a 51-year-old female and I am scheduled to have a papillary fibroelastomas (heart tumor) removed off of my aortic valve. There is a possibility that they may need to replace my valve.
Surgeon wants me to have a mechanical valve due to my age. I am hesitant. I do not want to be on warfarin the rest of my life.
Looking for experiences with both mechanical and bio valve replacements.
Thank you in advance.
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@acnacf
Welcome to Mayo Connect!
I had aortic valve replacement with tissue valve at age 79.
I also did not want to take blood thinners forever.
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2 ReactionsI am 65 and had a valve replacement ( along with aortic reconstruction , double bypass and maze procedure ) last August . I wanted a tissue valve but when they got in my aorta was too large and the surgeon was concerned that if failure occurred ( expectancy 10-15 yrs ) it would be too risky to install a replacement . I have not had any bad side effects from the warrfarin other than scratches and other minor injuries bleeding but it really is not any worse than with asprin . Testing weekly can be a challenge , but i now have a home test kit that makes it much more convienent .