Man shows how his ‘partially artificial heart’ can be seen pounding through a scar on his chest


Beat this! Man shows how his ‘partially artificial heart’ can be seen pounding through a scar on his chest

  • Phil Pankau, 37, from Wyoming, films his chest revealing the beating motion
  • He underwent surgery at 16 to replace a bicuspid aortic valve
  • Heart beats harder than normal causing Mr Pankau to feel it pounding constantly

This is the amazing moment a man shows how his ‘partially artificial’ heart can be seen beating through a scar left on his chest from surgery.

Phil Pankau, 36, from Cheyenne, Wyoming, films his chest revealing the beating motion created by a mechanical valve.

Footage shows Mr Pankau bare-chested with a pink scar running down his chest as he explains the procedure he underwent to have the partially artificial heart fitted.

The beating motion is created by a mechanical valve

Phil Pankau from Cheyenne Wyoming, films his chest revealing the beating motion

 ‘I underwent the surgery at 16 (I’m 36 now) to replace a bicuspid aortic valve that was causing a heart murmur and when that quite literally disintegrated at age 31. I had a mechanical aortic valve and an artificial aortic root put in.’

‘That causes the heart to beat harder than normal (which causes me to feel it pounding constantly and hear the valve tick) which you can see all the time through my chest scar,’ Mr Pankau said. 

The actual cause of bicuspid aortic valve disease is not completely clear. 

It is known that the two-leaflet valve develops in the early stages of pregnancy, and the defect is present at birth.

Footage shows Mr Pankau bare-chested with a pink scar running down his chest as he explains the procedure

Footage shows Mr Pankau bare-chested with a pink scar running down his chest as he explains the procedure