Another prediction of bio-eng. heart valve

[RCB]

Last night I was watching Grand Rounds at The Univ. of Washington, regarding AVR. Nothing on it hasn't been discussed
here on this website. Two interesting points:
1. The chief of cardiology refered to coumadin as a "blood thinner"! That should make Al Lodwick real happy..NOT!
2. The debate ( Mech. vs Tisssue ) ending development of
bio-eng valves ( stem cells taken from one's own blood marrow,
then grown in to heart valve ) was predicted by this doctor
to be just 10 years away. Problem is, medical science has been
promising Bio-end. valve were 5 to 10 years away for the last
20 years that I am aware of. As recently as 1996, Advanced
Tissue Sciences Inc. promised a production valve by 2000.
Today, the last time I checked, they were in Chapter 15 and
their research assets had been sold to another company.

[Nancy]

1.) Back to a refresher course for that guy! How embarassing, and in public, no less.

2.) "Stuff happens", even in rarified air. I wonder just how long it would take to grow a heart from a stem cell?

[Debrinha GT]

I've had three mitral valve replacements but if the problem arose today, I'd be able to get a valve repair through keyhole surgery. Technology is wonderful.

Read more about me at: http://uk.geocities.com/deboraginastewart1/

[RCB]

I've had three AVR, my first being in 1960 and I am facing another one now. I have been told that KEYHOLE was out of the question because the number of surgeries had created too much scar tissue.

[Debrinha GT]

I guess I'll just have to accept the fact that my only options are either mechanical or tissue valves but at least that's better than what a lot of people go throgh with terminal illnesses where nothing can be done. I'm sure that in years from now people won't feel as insecure about this because there will be something far safer than the conventional heart operation procedures we see now and if we come to think of it , we've already come a long way since I first had an operation for instance. Débora