If you have a problem with your heart valve, you may not need traditional open-heart surgery. New minimally invasive heart valve surgeries could be an option.

“Advances in technology have made minimally invasive procedures much more common, even for complicated heart valve repair or replacements,” says Bruce Jones, MD, cardiovascular surgeon at Methodist Medical Group – Cardiovascular Surgery. “Minimally invasive surgery (or MIS) procedures use very small incisions, which makes it much easier for patients to recover quickly.”

Why You Might Need Heart Valve Surgery

Your heart has four valves: aortic, mitral, pulmonic and tricuspid. Valves open to allow blood in your heart to flow to your arteries. Then they close to stop blood from going back into your heart. Something can be wrong with one of your valves at birth (a congenital heart disease) or that can develop over time (structural heart disease). If your heart valve continues to not work properly after treatment with medication and lifestyle changes, you may ultimately need surgery.

Common reasons you could need heart valve surgery include:

• A valve isn’t closing all the way, so blood leaks backward into your heart (also called regurgitation).
• A valve isn’t opening all the way (also called stenosis).
• A valve has been damaged by infection (also called endocarditis).
• Problems with a heart valve are causing chest pain, fainting, shortness of breath or heart failure.
• You previously had heart valve surgery and now have complications, such as blood clots or bleeding.

Many people with heart valve problems will never need surgery and can live full and active lives.

Types of Heart Valve Surgery

There are two main types of heart valve surgery: heart valve repair and heart valve replacement. Valve repairs are most common on the mitral valve, while valve replacements are most common for the aortic valve. Surgery is less common with pulmonic or tricuspid valves.

Heart valve surgery can be open or minimally invasive. Open valve surgery is sometimes performed at the same time as other heart surgery, such as coronary artery bypass surgery.

“While minimally invasive heart valve surgery is not always possible, it is a great option for many patients, including those who are too weak for open heart surgery,” Dr. Jones says.

About Minimally Invasive Heart Valve Repair

Whenever possible, your surgeon will opt to repair your damaged valve instead of replacing it. Minimally invasive procedures include:

• Balloon valvuloplasty, when a small balloon is inflated to fully open a stenotic valve
• Ring annuloplasty, when your surgeon tightens your faulty valve by putting a ring of tissue or other material around it
• Transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER), which implants a small clip in your mitral valve to treat mitral regurgitation
  
  

About Minimally Invasive Heart Valve Replacement

If your valve is too damaged to repair, your surgeon will perform a heart valve replacement. Types of valve replacement procedures include:

• Biological valve replacement, when your valve is replaced with one of human or animal tissue
• Mechanical valve replacement, when your valve is replaced with an artificial valve that may be carbon or titanium
• Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), when a new valve is placed inside the defective old one (this procedure is also called a transcatheter aortic valve implantation, or TAVI)
  
  

Why Minimally Invasive Heart Valve Procedures Are a Great Option

There are many benefits to minimally invasive mitral valve or aortic surgery. While everyone’s experience will be a little different, these types of procedures offer several advantages over traditional open-heart surgery, such as:

• Fewer days in the hospital
• Lower risk of infection
• Quicker recovery time
• Reduced trauma to the chest wall

“Another benefit to MIS is that you will not need to be connected to a heart-lung machine during the procedure,” Dr. Jones says. “This means that people who are too sick to withstand more intense surgeries can still receive treatment for their heart valve issues.”

What to Expect Before, During and After Heart Valve Surgery

If your cardiologist recommends a heart valve procedure, you will need to prepare for a few weeks. Your specific preparations will be based on your medical history. Still, you may need to stop taking any blood-thinning medicine, such as aspirin, Warfarin, Apixaban and Xarelto, 5-7 days in advance. If you smoke, you will need to stop 1-2 weeks before the surgery.

During surgery, your surgeon will make small incisions in your chest to operate on your heart. However, some minimally invasive surgery procedures may require a small incision in your groin, through which a catheter is threaded up a blood vessel to your heart. The surgery will take two or more hours.

Afterward, you will be taken to the intensive care unit, where you will stay for at least the day after surgery. Recovery time after minimally invasive procedures varies depending on your condition and the type of surgery, but most people stay in the hospital for around 3-5 days. During this time, nurses will monitor your vital signs. You will have tubes in your chest to drain fluids for one to three days. As you feel stronger, hospital staff will help get you moving. After you return home, in about four weeks, you may start a cardiac rehabilitation program to boost your heart health.

Talk to a Doctor About Your Heart Valve Surgery Options

Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare offers several types of minimally invasive heart valve surgeries. While you may never need surgery for your heart valve problems, you could be surprised at the minimally invasive surgical options to treat it. Talking to your doctor about short- and long-term treatment plans for heart valve disease is the best way to know whether surgery is right for you.

Interested in Learning More About MIS Procedures for Heart Valves?

If your heart valve problems could need surgery, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare is here for you. You can make an appointment to speak with one of our specialists today.

FIND A CARDIOVASCULAR SURGERY PROVIDER

Take a Heart Health Risk Assessment

Learn more about your current heart health and associated health risks by taking a health risk assessment. Our online assessment is quick, easy and confidential, and it can provide you with information that you can share with your doctor. 

TAKE THE ASSESSMENT