Heart Double Valve Replacement in South Africa

The valves are responsible for delivering rich oxygenated blood to the heart chambers. In total, there are four heart valves performing the same operation. Each valve closes completely after pushing the blood in the following chamber. Hence the flow is maintained. The ill-conditioned heart valve is incapacitated to perform this operation. When the blood vessels narrow, the lesser amount of blood flows in the chambers causing the heart muscles to work harder. This condition is called stenosis. Weak valves cause disruptive flow of blood as the valve sometimes may close lightly. This causes the blood to flow backward which is termed as regurgitation. 

Getting a valve replacement means to replace the faulty valves with either mechanical or biological alternatives. Replacing both the mitral and the aortic valves is called double valve replacement, or the entire left side of the heart. This type of surgery is not as common as the others and the mortality rate is slightly higher.

Figuring out the right candidate for the double valve replacement can be a little tricky as the procedure is a bit uncommon. Also, the factors involved in deciding who should get the replacement would vary from person to person. A general viewpoint may lead to patients having these symptoms.

• fatigue
• dizziness
• lightheadedness
• shortness of breath
• cyanosis
• chest pain
• fluid retention, especially in the lower limbs

Other factors that play an important role in deciding the candidature of double valve replacement are:

• your age
• your overall health
• your ability to take anticoagulant medications
• the extent of the disease

The factors affecting the cost of double valve replacement procedure may depend on:

• Where the Surgery is performed under general anesthesia with techniques that are either conventional or minimally invasive. So it depends on the patients’ current medical condition about the nature of the procedure. 
• Conventional surgery requires a large incision from the neck to the navel. Risks involved during such procedures are huge. 
• During the majority of procedures, the heart will be temporarily stopped and the patient will be put on a heart/lung machine that takes over the breathing and blood circulation.