Heart Valve Repair or Replacement Surgery

​The heart comprises four chambers that coordinate to take in blood and pump it across the body. There are valves between these chambers that open to allow blood from one chamber to the next and close to prevent backflow. They keep blood moving forward in the heart.

Sometimes, valves become damaged due to injury or disease. Examples of conditions that affect valves are valve regurgitation (leaky valves) and valve stenosis (valve stiffness). Some of the symptoms of damaged valves are dizziness, breathing difficulty, chest pain, heart palpitations, and swelling in the abdomen, feet, and ankles.

When a valve is damaged, it must be repaired or replaced. Valve repair surgery is an open heart procedure done in a hospital’s operating room. The patient must be sedated, and surgeons open up their chest cavity to access their heart. Afterward, they repair the damaged valve by removing the calcium deposits causing stiffness, fusing separated valve leaflets, or removing weak valve leaflets. Surgeons may also patch up leaky valves if some have developed holes.

Sometimes, the valve is so damaged it has to be replaced. In that case, surgeons remove the valve and replace it with an artificial one made of animal tissue, human tissue, or plastic coated with carbon. The surgery typically takes around three hours.

American Health Council’s Best in Medicine Award, Dr. Hartmuth Bittner, Sugeon

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