The normal heart valve opens and closes with each beat of the heart, about 40 million times per year for an entire lifetime. Certain diseases, such as rheumatic fever, can damage the valves enough that they will eventually need to be repaired or replaced. In addition, age can also result in stiffening or deposition of calcium on the valve, which may also require repair or replacement.
When symptoms such as dizziness, fatigue, shortness of breath or chest pain become significant enough to affect daily life, surgical treatment must be considered. Common forms of heart valve disease typically requiring surgery include:
- Stenosis – Occurs when a valve doesn't open fully. The valve may have become hardened or stiff with calcium deposits or scarring. Blood has to flow through a smaller opening, so less blood gets through the valve into the next chamber.
- Insufficiency (also called regurgitation) – Results when the valve doesn't close tightly. The valve's supportive structures may be loose or torn, or the valve itself may have stretched or thinned. Blood may then leak back the wrong way through the valve.
- Mitral valve prolapse – A condition in which the heart’s left upper and left lower chambers don’t close properly. Other heart valve problems are caused by degeneration of the valves, infection, rheumatic fever, or congenital birth defects.
The SSM Heart Institute’s minimally invasive valve surgery team is among the most active in the St. Louis area. They repair or replace a leaky or diseased mitral or aortic valve the breakthrough “keyhole” method that significantly reduces complications, pain, scarring, and recovery time.
The SSM Heart Institute offers a 2nd Opinion Heart Valve program that offers patients the chance to meet with an expert surgeon to evaluate the best options for heart valve treatment.
