Heart valve disease care at Mayo Clinic

Your Mayo Clinic care team

At Mayo Clinic, doctors trained in heart disease (cardiologists), doctors trained in heart surgery (cardiovascular surgeons) and other heart valve disease specialists work together to provide you with coordinated, comprehensive care. This collaborative approach means your care team can often evaluate you and develop a treatment plan within 2 to 3 days.

Advanced diagnosis and treatment

Mayo Clinic offers many diagnostic tests and treatment options for heart valve disease, including aortic valve disease, mitral valve disease, pulmonary valve disease and tricuspid valve disease.

Your Mayo Clinic care team uses advanced imaging techniques to accurately diagnose heart valve disease and other heart conditions. These techniques include echocardiography, 3D echocardiography and transesophageal echocardiography.

Innovative heart valve surgery

Mayo Clinic heart surgeons have experience and training in innovative techniques used to perform heart valve surgery. When possible, surgeons repair heart valves instead of replacing them.

Mayo surgeons may perform minimally invasive heart surgery, which involves the use of smaller incisions than those used in open-heart surgery. Sometimes, doctors perform robot-assisted heart surgery to repair heart valves.

Mayo doctors may do less invasive heart procedures using long, thin tubes called catheters to repair or replace some heart valves. Sometimes clips or plugs are used to make the repairs.

Expertise and rankings

Mayo Clinic cardiologists, cardiovascular surgeons and other care professionals have experience diagnosing and treating all types of heart valve disease. Each year, Mayo doctors evaluate or treat about 37,000 people with heart valve disease.

Pediatric expertise

Doctors at Mayo Clinic's campus in Minnesota have treated children with congenital heart disease for many years. Pediatric cardiologists and pediatric cardiovascular surgeons at Mayo Clinic's campus in Minnesota have extensive experience evaluating and treating children with heart disease, including congenital heart disease.

Nationally recognized expertise

Mayo Clinic campuses are nationally recognized for expertise in cardiology and cardiovascular surgery:

  • The Adult Congenital Heart Disease Association (ACHA) has designated the Adult Congenital Heart Disease (ACHD) Clinic at Mayo Clinic's campus in Rochester, Minnesota, as an ACHA ACHD Accredited Comprehensive Care Center.

    This accreditation was achieved because the ACHD Clinic meets personnel requirements, offers specific medical services, and uses policies and procedures that help ensure the highest level of care for adults with congenital heart disease. This accreditation also signifies that Mayo Clinic has doctors with special expertise in diagnosing and treating congenital heart disease.

  • Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, Mayo Clinic in Phoenix/Scottsdale, Arizona, and Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, are ranked among the Best Hospitals for heart and heart surgery by U.S. News & World Report.
  • Mayo Clinic Children's Center in Rochester is ranked the No. 1 hospital in Minnesota, and the five-state region of Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin, according to U.S. News & World Report's 2023-2024 "Best Children's Hospitals" rankings.

Learn more about Mayo Clinic's cardiovascular surgery and cardiovascular medicine departments' expertise and rankings.

Locations, travel and lodging

Mayo Clinic has major campuses in Phoenix and Scottsdale, Arizona; Jacksonville, Florida; and Rochester, Minnesota. The Mayo Clinic Health System has dozens of locations in several states.

For more information on visiting Mayo Clinic, choose your location below:

Costs and insurance

Mayo Clinic works with hundreds of insurance companies and is an in-network provider for millions of people.

In most cases, Mayo Clinic doesn't require a physician referral. Some insurers require referrals or may have additional requirements for certain medical care. All appointments are prioritized on the basis of medical need.

Learn more about appointments at Mayo Clinic.

Please contact your insurance company to verify medical coverage and to obtain any needed authorization prior to your visit. Often, your insurer's customer service number is printed on the back of your insurance card.