Artificial heart valve thinners which must be tested and monitored constantly or it may be the constant ticking noise of the valve, which can be heard sometimes several feet away from the patient forever 24-7. There are three main types of artificial heart valves: the "mechanical,"the "biological," and the "tissue engineered" valves. Mechanical heart valves (MHV) are prosthetics designed to replicate the function of the natural valves of the human heart. The human heart contains four valves: tricuspid valve, pulmonic valve, mitral valve and aortic valve. Their main purpose is to maintain unimpeded forward flow through the heart and from the heart into
Mitral valve repair left atrium or lungs when the ventricle contracts (squeezes) to push blood out to the body. It has two flaps, or leaflets, known as cusps. The techniques of mitral valve repair include inserting a cloth-covered ring around the valve to bring the leaflets into contact with each other (annuloplasty), removal of redundant/loose segments of the leaflets (quadrangular resection), and re-suspension of the leaflets with artificial (Gore-Tex) cords. Procedures on the mitral valve usually require a median sternotomy, but advances in non-invasive methods (such as keyhole surgery) allow surgery without a sternotomy (and resulting pain and scar). Minimally invasive mitral valve