Aorta replacemnet valve leaking after surgery?

[robinmich]

My 83 yr old father-in-law underwent a arorta heart valve (biological )replacement and a single bypass about two weeks ago.  Within hours of his surgery he began bleeding into his left lung and had to undergo another surgery.  However, they could not find the source of the bleeding and after admineristing meds the bleeding stopped on its own.  Now we have been told that the replacement valve has a small leak due to the amount of calcification of his heart and aorta. To quote the surgeon, "the aorta is as hard as a lead pipe".

Should we be concerned about the replacement valve leaking?  According to the doctor he is getting plenty of oxygen and his heart sounds great.
  
This was his second heart surgery, and he has all the things that add to complications, diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney failure and diabetic neuropathy along with coagulation problems. Even with all this he does seem to on the road to recovery.  He may even go home this week.

Thanks,

Robin

[robinmich]

Thanks,  I will do that.

[nickppatel]

Take my comment w/ a grain of salt, but it seems that your question may be better suited for the doctor-answered heart forum. The only people responding to questions in this forum are lay-persons like you and I. Your question *may* be a bit too technical for a non-cardiologist to answer, but who knows, maybe some body can!