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"How Big Is A Mechanical Heart Valve Replacement?" Asks Jenny

Written By: Adam Pick, Patient Advocate, Author & Website Founder
Medical Expert: Eric Roselli, MD, Chief of Adult Cardiac Surgery, Cleveland Clinic
Page Last Updated: June 6, 2025

I just received an interesting question from Jenny about the size of a mechanical heart valve replacement.

Jenny writes to me, "Adam - Like many patients on your blog, I'm preparing for aortic valve replacement. I'm young, 29, with a bicuspid aortic valve that has severe stenosis. I'm thinking a mechanical valve is the best option for me. However, I can't stop thinking about the little device clicking away in my heart. Quick question... Do you know the size of a mechanical heart valve? Thanks, Jenny"

There are a few ways to answer Jenny's question. On one hand, I could assemble a table which contains the different sizes of mechanical valves -- by diameter and by surface area. However, I often think the cliche, "A picture is worth a thousand words", is more appropriate. That said, a mechanical valve is about this big...

Pretty neat picture, right?

However, I thought Jenny might want to learn the actual dimensions of an actual heart valve replacement. That said, I asked Eric Roselli, MD, from The Cleveland Clinic, to help educate Jenny (and the rest of our community) about aortic valve replacement sizes.

Dr. Eric Roselli

Here is Dr. Roselli's response to the question, "How big is a mechanical aortic valve replacement?"

"The diameter of an aortic mechanical heart valve replacements is between 17 millimeters (mm) to 33mm. The most common replacements are between 21mm and 25mm." -- Dr. Eric Roselli, M.D.

While I could not find a picture of the different sizes of mechanical valves, here is a picture showing the different sizes of tissue valves.

I hope that helps Jenny (and all of us) learn more about the size of mechanical aortic heart valves.

Written by Adam Pick - Patient & Website Founder

Adam Pick is a heart valve patient and author of The Patient's Guide To Heart Valve Surgery. In 2006, Adam founded HeartValveSurgery.com to educate and empower patients. This award-winning website has helped over 10 million people fight heart valve disease. Adam has been featured by the American Heart Association and Medical News Today.

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