Heart Valve Disease

If you have a damaged or stiff heart valve, our doctors can help you choose the best solution. Heart valves can now be treated with less invasive procedures, an alternative to open heart surgery.  But may only be a solution for those with certain conditions.  Our team of experts can help decide what the best treatment options are.

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR)

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement is a way of replacing a heart valve without surgery. We recommend this procedure for those who have aortic stenosis.

Procedure:

• A CT scan will be performed first to measure the size of your heart valve
• We will replace the aortic valve by placing a catheter through the femoral artery in the leg
• The new valve begins to work immediately
• You will be able to return to your daily routine within a couple of days

Trancatheter aortic valve replacement is becoming an increasingly popular therapy for patients with severe aortic stenosis.

Mitral valve disease

The mitral valve can be leaky, a condition called mitral regurgitation.  Depending on how the valve is leaking, we can sometimes repair the leak or regurgitation without surgery by inserting a device called the MitraClip (Abbott).

Types of Mitral Valve treatments:

• MitraClip - repairs mitral valve regurgitation (a 'leaking' mitral valve)
• Mitral valve replacement - the mitral valve can be replaced without surgery in some cases
• Mitral valve ballooning - a balloon can be used to dilate the mitral valve if it is too stiff

Mitral valve therapies without surgery are becoming more common across the world including at specialized Heart Valve centers in the Unites States.