Mechanical Or Bio-Prosthetic Valve: Which One Is Better For The Heart?

by Niraj Jayaswal Content Writer

Summary

The increasing cases of mitral valve replacement surgery and balloon pulmonary valvuloplasty in India are leading to a general consensus on which one is the recommended valve for these surgeries. Is it Mechanical or the Bio-prosthetic one? It is not an accurate answer which you could get even from the top 10 cardiac surgeons in Gurugram or even the experts of percutaneous valvuloplasty in Gurgaon. You have to acknowledge the fact that the type of valve be it Mechanical or Bio-prosthetic, it depends on various factors which can at times be integrated together. But we can help you to understand the difference in merits and demerits of both the Mechanical valve and the Bio-prosthetic valve. We talked to an experienced heart valve therapy doctor in India who has been working on the field of cardiovascular treatments from a commendable span of time, the important insights from the discussion have been presented in this article.

Article

The choice for either Mechanical heart valve or Bio-prosthetic heart valve is not depended on a sole factor. In fact, many factors are underlying which have to be taken into consideration thoroughly before making the choice. The results from the diagnostic assessment and advice of the cardiovascular surgeons are also crucial in reaching to your choice. Let's see what all options influence the choice between the Mechanical heart valve and the Bio-prosthetic heart valve:

Composition

As the name of the Bio-prosthetic heart valve suggests, it is made from biological tissues either from cow or pig. The former is bovine while the latter is porcine. Mechanical heart valves are used usually in the form of bileaflet valves or the tilting disc valves which facilitates their long-term durability over the nature of the Bio-prosthetic heart valves.

Durability

The composition of the Bio-prosthetic heart valve makes it vulnerable to degeneration over the time which risks its durability. On the other hand, the Mechanical heart valve is artificially composed with durable materials making it more suitable for the long-term success of heart valve replacement surgery. In case of the Bio-prosthetic heart valve, its lifecycle starts to deteriorate potentially after the five years passing the completion of the heart valve replacement surgery.

Risk of Bleeding

The risk of bleeding is a common risk associated with any type of cardiovascular surgery be it open heart surgery or minimally invasive surgery. Similar is the case of heart valve replacement surgery. The risk of bleeding is comparatively lower in the case of Bio-prosthetic heart valve than the Mechanical one. So, if patients are at risk of bleeding, Mechanical heart valve should not be used for replacement.

Possibility of corrective surgery

Since the lifecycle of the Bio-prosthetic heart valve is not up to the mark with that of the Mechanical heart valve, the former is not comparatively durable which makes its collapse earlier than expected. If it happens, the patient has to go to another operation for re-substituting the heart valve. This risk of re-operation is also linked with the Mechanical heart valve but the chances are considerably lower than that with the Bio-prosthetic heart valve.

Patient factor

The overall healthy well-being of the patient, their age, and the additional risks of complications, all of these factors can affect the choice of the heart valve to be used during the heart valve replacement surgery. Some of the cases are discussed below:

Patients on the dose of blood-thinning medications

Some patients who are suffering from additional cardiovascular problems, they can be already taking the course of blood-thinning medications, in these cases, Mechanical heart valve is implanted because it is also linked with the dose of blood-thinning medications.

Diseases

If a patient is suffering from any dialysis depending kidney problem, basically linked with the risk of bleeding, then, the preference for the heart valve replacement surgery is on the Bio-prosthetic heart valve. Whereas, Mechanical heart valve is recommended in case of patients who are suffering from problems such as hyperthyroidism.

Young patients with a history of bleeding

Even though young patients are most of the time, healthier than the older people but if they have had episodes of bleeding in the past, then, Bio-prosthetic heart valve is preferred for their heart valve replacement surgery so as to avoid the risk of bleeding.

Pregnant woman

For pregnant women, Bio-prosthetic heart valve is recommended because they do are not associated with the requirements of blood-thinning medications which else could prove to be harmful to both the child to be born and the expecting mother as well.

Age

Older people with the age above the range of sixty to sixty-five are usually recommended to undergo a heart valve replacement surgery with a Bio-prosthetic heart valve whereas the people lower to that age rank are probably preferred for the Bio-prosthetic heart valve.