A xenograft bioprosthetic heart valve replaces a damaged valve in your heart. It’s made from tissue sourced from animals such as pigs or cows.
Xenograft bioprosthetic heart valves are a treatment option for people with severe heart valve disease.
The name can be broken into several parts:
- The prefix “xeno” means foreign — in this case, it means from a foreign animal.
- A “graft” is a piece of tissue transplanted into your body.
- A “bioprosthetic” is a replacement for a body part that comes from living or organic tissue.
Altogether, a xenograft bioprosthetic heart valve is a replacement for one of your heart valves sourced from animals.
Surgeons have used xenograft bioprosthetic heart valves since the
Read on to learn more about how doctors use xenograft bioprosthetic heart valve replacements to treat valve disease.
About
If it’s left untreated, valve disease can lead to
Treatment options for heart valve disease include:
- lifestyle changes
- medications
- surgery to repair or replace a valve
Your doctor may recommend surgery if medications can’t manage your symptoms or if your symptoms are getting worse. In about
Doctors can use synthetic heart valve replacements or bioprosthetics to treat heart valve disease.
Of the more than 300,000 heart valve replacements performed worldwide each year, 40-60% are xenograft bioprosthetics.
Current guidelines recommend using synthetic prosthetics for people younger than 50 and bioprosthetics for people over 70. They recommend either type for people between these ages.
Bioprosthetic heart valve replacements are most frequently made from tissue derived from pig or cow hearts. The heart is recovered from the animal and transported on ice within
Pig hearts are more similar to humans, so surgeons can use a valve directly from the heart to replace your damaged valve. When surgeons use a cow heart, they need to reconstruct a valve from the pericardium, which is the tissue that covers the heart.
Doctors can transplant synthetic or bioprosthetic heart valves. Here are some of the pros and cons of each type:
| Heart valve | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| Synthetic heart valves (mechanical valves) | • High durability • Long-lasting | • Requires lifelong blood thinning medications |
| Autograft (from your body) | • Excellent long-term survival • Decreased need for blood thinners | • Chance of damaging your pulmonary valve, which is used as a graft • Less durable than synthetic heart valves |
| Allografts (from a cadaver) | • Decreased need for blood thinners • | • Limited number of donors • Less durable than synthetic heart valves |
| Xenografts | • Near limitless number of potential donors • Decreased need for blood thinners | • Less durable than synthetic heart valves |
Bioprosthetic heart valves, also called living heart valves, can be made from:
- xenografts: heart tissue derived from a pig or cow
- autografts: heart tissue taken from your own body
- allografts: heart tissue taken from a deceased donor
What are synthetic heart valves made from?
- polypropylene
- silicone
- polyvinyl alcohol
- titanium
- pyrolytic carbon
- polyether urethane
- polycarbonate urethane
- polyethylene glycol
A heart valve replacement is an extensive procedure that requires open heart surgery.
According to the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation, heart valve surgery can take more than 2 hours.
It will likely take you
- exercise
- emotional support
- lifestyle habit counseling
- heart health education
- dietary counseling
Side effects from this type of heart valve generally occur more often in older adults and people with poorer overall health. They include:
- infection
- excessive bleeding
- blood clots
- stroke
- arrhythmia
- kidney problems
The risk of dying during the procedure is about 2%.
Degeneration of the xenograft usually starts
Factors associated with increased degeneration of the xenograft include:
- younger age
- high blood pressure
- hyperparathyroidism, high parathyroid hormone levels
- diabetes
- end-stage kidney disease
- prosthesis-patient mismatch. Ideally, the donor valve should have an internal diameter of about
2–3 millimeters smaller than the patient’s valve annulus, which is where it attaches.
Synthetic prosthetic heart valves come with a
One of the advantages of receiving a bioprosthetic heart valve replacement is you usually don’t need to take long-term blood thinning medications.
Xenograft bioprosthetic heart valve replacements are replacement heart valves derived from animal tissue. This tissue usually comes from pigs or cows.
One of the main advantages of these heart valve replacements over synthetic valves is that you won’t have to take blood thinning medication for the rest of your life. However, they don’t tend to last as long as synthetic valves.
Your doctor can help you weigh the pros and cons of xenograft bioprosthetics compared to other treatment options.