I’m just sitting here wondering how many of us have the new(ish) Inspiris valve? I’m 7 months post op and feeling really good but as it’s a fairly new valve though it might be interesting to keep in touch with people who have the same one. It was thanks to this fabulous forum that I chose this particular valve in the first place!
What do you think?
Alison
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Alison1960
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Is this a tissue valve ? I am having AVR and Aneurysm graft, and need some more information. At the moment I think I am coming down on the side of tissue valve.
Hi SerenK. It is indeed. It is so new there is no clinical data yet on it (or these wasn't when I had my AVR done in December) but it apparently is coated in a special anti-calcification substance that "should" mean it lasts as long as 20-25 years, or so they say.
If you want any advice or guidance on the tortuous process of deciding tissue vs valve there are lots of posts/advice on here (I have posted about it myself a few times) - was in your position almost exactly a year ago.
Basically there is no "right" answer; there are pros and cons to each option and it is a very personal choice. I went tissue because a) I wasn't that keen on the Warfarin issue, b) I was happy (relatively speaking) to take a gamble on 10-15 years Warfarin-free (hopefully more if the Inspiris lives up to its billing) and then see how technology around valves and/or anti-coagulants has developed and c) my surgeon made the point that, whichever valve you have - mechanical or tissue - you can never guarantee you will never need another operation at a later point, even though with the mechanical valve there is a possibility that that's it, you're done for life.
My wife also made the good point that when you do choose, just go with it, don't do "what ifs", whatever the outcome or you'll just eat yourself up mentally. But as I say there's no right or wrong answer - the choice you make will be the right one for you, because it was the choice you made!
Good plan, though bear in mind you can these days choose your surgeon if you so wish, for eg if perhaps it's not offered there?
I was at St Thomas' as had been there for my cardiology when I lived in London and then - as I knew it was a centre of excellence - simply kept it in the same place when I moved out of the capital, as I travel there a lot anyway so going for regular check-ups wasn't a huge deal.
Before I went through this process, I wasn't aware you could make that sort of choice but it is now a "right" apparently even though, for me, it wasn't an issue anyway.
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