Guest guest Posted March 25, 2002 Report Share Posted March 25, 2002 Apparently the shunts are made of polymers similar to silicone in implants, so that may be what I was told by some surgeons. However the size of these is so small compared to implants, maybe that makes them safer. I don't know, but one thing for sure, if you are getting a shunt it is probably a life saving device where as implants are not in any way a life saving device. There are other options for reconstruction as well. ----- Original Message ----- From: Heer Sent: Monday, March 25, 2002 12:26 PM Subject: Heart valves I feel like I have once again been lied to by PS's and other Dr's who told me that my implants were safe and compared them to other implanted devices like heart shunts and valves and artificicial joints. I guess before I took them all at face value I should have researched as I have been, I was surprised to find out that the heart valves are not made out of silicone at all, they are often times used from Animal hearts and other material that is not silicone. Hmm I wonder again why I was told different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 26, 2002 Report Share Posted March 26, 2002 , There are heart valves as well as pacemakers and AICD's (automatic internal cardiac defibrillators) that are made of silicone. There are several manufacturers of these devices out there and some contain silicone, some don't. The same holds true for artificial joints. When I worked in the CICU/CCU (open heart ICU), the valves and all the other crap they put in pts did contain silicone and after what happened to me, my cardiac surgeon tried to get the hospital purchasing dept to switch companies/brands, but of course, the hospital had a contract with the company, and my surgeon's partners did not want to change (cardiac surgeons are all assholes---they are very set in their ways and often have temper tantrums if they don't get what they want or something has changed). Also remember that devices which contain any foreign material such as tissue from an animal or even cadaver tissue, can be rejected by the body because it is foreign and our body's natural defense mechanism is to fight it. e ----- Original Message ----- From: Heer Sent: Monday, March 25, 2002 12:35 PM Subject: Heart valves I feel like I have once again been lied to by PS's and other Dr's who told me that my implants were safe and compared them to other implanted devices like heart shunts and valves and artificicial joints. I guess before I took them all at face value I should have researched as I have been, I was surprised to find out that the heart valves are not made out of silicone at all, they are often times used from Animal hearts and other material that is not silicone. Hmm I wonder again why I was told different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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