Introduction

An aortic valve replacement is a type of open heart surgery used to treat problems with the heart's aortic valve. The aortic valve controls the flow of blood out from the heart to the rest of the body. An aortic valve replacement involves removing a faulty or damaged valve and replacing it with a new one made from synthetic materials or animal tissue. It's a major operation that isn't suitable for everyone and can take a long time to recover from. When is it necessary to replace the aortic valve? The aortic valve may need to be replaced for two reasons: the valve has become narrowed (aortic stenosis) the opening of the valve becomes smaller, obstructing the flow of blood out of the heart the valve is leaky (aortic regurgitation) the valve allows blood to flow back through into the heart The problems can get worse over time and insevere cases can lead to life-threateningproblems such as Heart failure , if left untreated. There are no medicines to treat aortic valve problems, so replacing the valve will be recommended if you're at risk of serious complications, but are otherwise well enough to have surgery. This means you'll be asleep during the operation and won't feel any pain while it's carried out. During the procedure: a large cut (incision)about 25cm long is made in your chest to accessyour heart although sometimes a smaller cut may be made your heart isstopped and a heart-lung (bypass) machine is used totake overthe job of yourheartduring the operation the damaged or faulty valve is removed and replaced with the new one yourheart is restarted and the opening inyour chest is closed The operation usually takes a few hours. You'll have a discussion with your doctor or surgeon before the procedure to decide whether a synthetic or animal tissue replacement valve is most suitable for you. Incision An incision is a cut made in the body with a surgical instrument during an operation.
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