Mechanical valve disturbs sleep in a quarter of patients

Peter Sayer, Alison Bloomer, and Eve Batt report from EuroHeartCare 2017. This study investigated how the noise of a mechanical heart valve affected patients’ lives, in particular their sleep, and whether there were any differences between women and men. In April 2013 all 1,045 patients who had undergone aortic valve replacement at Haukeland University Hospital between 2000 and 2011 were invited to participate in a postal survey. Of the 908 patients who responded, 245 had received a mechanical valve and were included in the current analysis. Patients were asked if the valve sound was audible to them or others, if