Heart Valve Surgery

Treatment

Heart Valve Repair

Heart specialists and surgeons agree that whenever possible a heart valve should be repaired instead of replaced. Heart valve repair leaves patients with their normally functioning tissue, which resists infection and does not require a lifetime of blood-thinning medication. Patients who have valve repair generally have a longer life expectancy.

Part of a prolapsing mitral valve is removed to allow the valve to fully close and stop leaking.

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Valve repair may be performed to separate fused valve leaflets, sew torn leaflets or reshape parts of the valve. However, repair is not possible for severely damaged valves such as those affected by calcium deposits or rheumatic disease.

Cardiovascular surgeons at Mayo Clinic have pioneered, studied and taught cutting-edge valve repair techniques since the beginning of cardiac surgery. In some cases, they can now offer the same proven techniques through smaller, incisions using minimally invasive heart surgery.

Heart Valve Replacement

Heart valves that are severely damaged must be replaced. Valve replacement is most often used to treat aortic valves and badly damaged mitral valves, but it can be used to treat any valve disease that is life threatening.

Two kinds of replacement valves are available:

Mechanical valves

Mechanical valves are made of synthetic materials.

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Biological valves are made of animal or human tissue.

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Mechanical valves are made of synthetic materials. They are reliable, and last a long time. Because blood tends to stick to mechanical valves and create blood clots, patients with these valves will need to take blood-thinning medicines (anticoagulants).

Biological valves

Biological valves are made from animal tissue (called a xenograft) or taken from the human tissue of a donated heart (called an allograft or homograft). Sometimes, a patient's own tissue can be used for valve replacement (called an autograft/Ross procedure).

Patients with biological valves usually do not need to take blood-thinning medication. These valves are not as durable as mechanical valves, however, and they may need to be replaced. Biological valves are used most often in elderly patients.

The choice of valve should be made by the patient and the physician, taking the following into consideration:

• age
• other medical conditions
• the patient's preferences with regard to medications and the possible need for reoperation
• potential pregnancy in women of childbearing age
• lifestyle