Background

The following video describes the various options for a mechanical pulmonary heart valve replacements and shows a surgical insertion of a leaflet into the tricuspid valve.















This video shows a patient in need of a pulmonary heart valve replacement and the surgical procedure required for the mechanical valve to be placed.

Heart Valve Surgery Options
In order to repair or replace a damaged heart valve a person must undergo surgery. This link describes the various procedures a person may have performed depending on the valve being repaired and the severity of the damage to the valve.

Heart Valve Size
The size of a heart valve depends on not only which valve it is but also the person. This link describes the various sizes of the four heart valves and how this is accounted for when a person undergoes valve replacement surgery.

Normal Size of Aortic Valve
Stenosis of a heart valve is a common reason for replacing a heart valve. This link describes the size of a properly functioning aortic valve, which is roughly the same size as the pulmonary valve, compared to the size of an aortic valve with stenosis.

Assessing Continuity Equation
The severity of aortic stenosis can be found by using an equation. This information can then be used to determine if the stenosis is severe enough to require valve surgery. This link describes the equation used and how the information needed for the equation is acquired.

Normal Values for Valvular Flow
A main reason for heart valve replacement surgery is because a persons valvular velocity is too low and doesn't let and adequate amount of blood to flow through the heart. This link gives the standard valvular velocities based on the heart valve and other variables such as, sex and age.

Diseased heart valve replaced with an artificial valve

Heart valve before and after replacement surgery