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Sen. Graham opts for animal valve
By BILL ADAIR, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published January 31, 2003
WASHINGTON -- When Sen. Bob Graham has heart surgery today, he will receive a new valve from a pig or a cow.
Graham's surgeon chose an animal valve instead of a mechanical one because the latter will not require Graham to take blood-thinning drugs for the rest of his life, according to the senator's spokesman Paul Anderson.
Mechanical and "biological" valves each have advantages and disadvantages, cardiologists say.
Mechanical valves usually last for the patient's lifetime, but blood tends to clot on them, which requires patients to take blood thinners.
The biological valves, which can be taken from a pig heart or made from the material surrounding a cow heart, require blood thinners only for the first few months after they are implanted. But they often must be replaced after 10 to 15 years.
Graham says he has known for years that he would eventually need a new aortic valve but discovered recently that it was needed soon. After he recuperates from the surgery, he will decide whether to run for president.
The surgery is scheduled for this morning at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.
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