Aortic Valve Replacement

The aortic valve is the outflow door of the heart. When it narrows (stenosis) or leaks (regurgitation) badly enough to cause chest pain, breathlessness or blackouts, replacing it restores normal circulation and takes the strain off the heart muscle.

The choice that matters most: which valve

A mechanical valve lasts twenty to thirty years or more but needs a blood-thinning tablet every day for life, with regular blood tests. A tissue valve needs no long-term blood thinner but typically lasts ten to fifteen years, after which it may need replacing — increasingly by a valve-in-valve TAVI rather than repeat surgery. Age, lifestyle and your other conditions decide this, and the decision is yours to make with the surgeon, not one to be defaulted.

What the operation involves

Open replacement takes roughly four to six hours under general anaesthetic, with the heart-lung machine taking over while the valve is exchanged. Before surgery you will have an echocardiogram, a CT scan, an angiogram and an ECG so the team knows the anatomy precisely. For suitable patients a catheter-based alternative (TAVI) exists and is listed separately.

Recovery and what to expect

Expect around seven to ten days in hospital. Walking and breathing exercises begin within a day of surgery; the breastbone takes six to eight weeks to knit, so lifting and driving are restricted; full recovery runs two to three months. Follow-up echocardiograms confirm the new valve is working as it should.

What we arrange around it

We plan roughly three weeks in-country so the pre-operative work-up and the surgical review both happen before you fly, arrange accommodation near the hospital for your companion, and put your valve-choice questions to the surgeon in writing beforehand.