Operations on heart valves

Each person has four valves of the heart. They consist of a thin, highly elastic connective tissue, which for one year they open and close 40 million times. Their working principle can be compared to valve, so they perform a vital function of adjusting the outflow of the flow of blood in the ventricles of the heart.

In most people heart valves operate faultlessly, or at least so well that they have no complaints. Only every hundredth person in Germany is born with a heart defect. However, with age increases the risk of weakening the heart valve that is accompanied by noticeable symptoms. Then, in most cases, surgery becomes necessary to avoid deterioration of the function of the valves and related complications.

Next, we have gathered for You the basic information about operations on heart valves

In the heart center Essen-Huttrop are two variants of the replacement heart valve: mechanical heart valves, metal / plastic, as well as biological heart valves, which are made, usually, from the pericardium of cattle.

Biological heart valve has limited durability and must be replaced at a certain time. However, his advantage is that his blood does not clot, and therefore patients do not need to take anticoagulants. Thus, the biological heart valves are a suitable option for elderly people or for people who can't take anticoagulants for a long period of time. Directive international professional associations recommend biological heart valve people aged 60 to 65 years.

When mechanical heart valves, the blood should liquefy, otherwise because of the rise of blood coagulation, there is a risk of a blood clot (embolism). However, their main advantage is unlimited strength.

Operations on heart valves last about 2 to 3 hours and are held as the bypass operations with a broken heart. When this chest is opened longitudinally and the heart stopped for a desired period of time. Meanwhile its function of pumping blood through the lungs and the human body takes on a respirator. Patients are then observed for about two days in the ICU.

In the Department of ambulatory care patients can already get up and a little later to take their first steps under the supervision of the office staff or therapists.

The next version of operative treatment – reconstruction, therefore, operation on bypass, which we mostly spend in the cardiology center Essen-Huttrop. In this case, the damaged heart valve is restored anatomically. In our clinic pays special attention to the mitral valve. Such operations are always carried out under intraoperative ultrasound control, to be able to follow the results of the operation directly in the operating room.

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