One of the concerns patients sometimes have when considering mechanical valves is the required use of lifelong blood thinner medication (i.e. warfarin). The trade off with warfarin, Dr. Mo said, is that as the level of the blood thinning requirement increases in order to reduce clot formation, patients are often exposed to higher bleeding risks.

“Where we have found a great promise and benefit of the On-X mechanical valve in the aortic position is new literature evidence-based support for a lower blood thinning requirement; in fact, so low that, to my knowledge…, it’s the lowest blood thinning requirement for any clinical indication that exists in clinical medicine today.”

Dr. Mo also stated that the On-X Aortic Valve actually requires lower anticoagulation therapy than what would be necessary to manage clots in the leg, for instance, or for prevention of strokes from an arrhythmia or atrial fibrillation.

“To a physician, and as a former scientist, to me this is so unbelievably powerful and important to consider,” he said. “The greatest advantage [of the On-X Aortic Valve] really lies around the shape of the valve, its material characteristics – leading to a  much lower necessity for blood thinning requirements using warfarin,” he said.

Another extremely beneficial result of the On-X valve’s state-of-the-art material and unique design is that it produces lower gradient values. The gradient value measures the pressure difference from one side of the heart valve to the other, and is a defining factor in gauging a valve’s performance. The On-X Heart Valve provides optimal mean gradients compared with other mechanical or bioprosthetic aortic heart valves.

With the On-X Valve, Dr. Mo believes patients have “the best of both worlds – a valve that essentially is very unlikely to require a second operation married with a valve that reduces bleeding risks associated with blood thinner.”7