Heart valve repair and replacement can relieve symptoms and prolong life. The success rate for heart valve surgery is high and increasing. It is a technically demanding operation that requires the surgeon and the surgical team to have a high level of skill. Mayo Clinic has state-of-the-art facilities and a strong commitment to research and education which attracts the leaders in cardiac surgery.
The cardiac surgeons at Mayo Clinic have a strong record of excellence in heart valve replacement and repair. Each year, Mayo heart surgeons repair or replace more than 1,400 heart valves, making Mayo Clinic one of the largest and most experienced medical centers in the country for this surgery.
Mayo Clinic cardiac surgeons perform a growing number of heart surgeries utilizing minimally invasive techniques, including robotic surgery. Minimally invasive heart surgery offers patients the advantages of reduced pain and recovery time. Mitral valve repair is the most commonly performed minimally invasive heart procedure at Mayo Clinic.
The majority of heart valve operations involve repair or replacement of mitral or aortic valves. These valves are on the left side of the heart, which is the harder working of the two sides because it pumps blood throughout the body. Repair and replacement are also done for pulmonary valves and tricuspid valves. These valves are the inflow and outflow valves to the right ventricle. This pumping chamber is a lower-pressure system and pumps blood to the lungs. There are several types of types of heart valve surgery. Read more about heart valve repair and replacement.
Heart valve conditions that most often require surgery are stenosis (narrowed valves) or regurgitation (improperly closing valves that allow blood to leak back in the wrong direction).
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