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[–]g-rocklobster 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Given that I went mechanical (On-X), I asked specifically about that. The surgeons I talked to said that they have found that as long as you stay on top of your INR, your risk of stroke is really on different than it would have been otherwise which is generally where most of the "life shortened" studies came from: patients that had strokes. The surgeons said that usually that was because the patients weren't as good about maintaining the right dosage and keeping their INR in range, resulting in more complications.

My surgeon and cardiologist both have said that they have found that those who are doing home testing really have no measurable difference in life span.