I had heart surgery 2 months ago to repair my mitral valve. In the lead-up to that, I had to make a decision what to do if it turned out replacement was needed instead of repair. Choices were metallic valves requiring me to be on warfarin the rest of my life or pig-derived valves. I chose the latter, mostly to avoid warfarin for life, but also because my surgeon was a PhD for work on creating biological-derived valves that didn’t trigger the immune system. Just mind-blowing what can be done. But I’m glad repair and not replacement worked out - and I now have GoreTex fibers attached to my valve.
Pig and cow valves will calcify and fail eventually. But it’s a slow process so you have time to plan and make decisions for replacement. Mechanical values are great until one day the clicking sound stops and you need to get to a hospital ASAP.
Back in the 90’s there were a series of values where the flipping plate shattered-sending shrapnel into the heart and beyond. Typical failure mode is stuck open which is survivable. Stuck closed is very bad.
GoreTex being the brand of a material that was put into your heart sure sounds amusing.
At heart, he's a GoreTex™ guy.
I'll just get my coat...
> I'll just get my coat
And what fabric is that coat made of?
Sheepskin (the “I’ll get my coat” reference is from The Register).
https://theregister.com? It's much older than that.
I am not surprised, but that's where I learned it.
I’ll have to remember that one