Heart valve surgery

Injury	Disease	Nutrition	Poison

Symptoms	Surgery	Test	Special Topic

Heart, section through the middle

Heart, front view

Heart valves - anterior view

Heart valves - superior view

Heart valve surgery - series

Overview

Recovery

Risks

Heart valve surgery

Definition:

Heart valve surgery is used to repair or replace diseased heart valves.

Alternative Names:
Valve replacement; Valve repair; Heart valve prosthesis
Description:

There are four valves inyour heart:

Aortic valve
Mitral valve
Tricuspid valve
Pulmonary valve

The valves control the direction of blood flow throughyour heart. The opening and closing of the heart valves produce the sound of the heartbeat.

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Heart valve surgery is open-heart surgery that is done while you are under general anesthesia. Acut is made through the breast bone (sternum). Your blood is routed away fromyour heart to a heart-lung bypass machine. This machine keeps the blood circulating whileyour heart is being operated on.

Valves may be repaired or replaced. Replacement heart valves are either natural (biologic) or artificial (mechanical):

Natural valves are from human donors (cadavers).
Modified natural valves come from animal donors. (Porcine valves are from pigs, bovine are from cows.) These are placed in synthetic rings.
Artificial valves are made of metal.

If you receive an artificial valve, you will need to take life-long medication to prevent blood clots. Natural valves rarely requirelife-long medication.

Indications:

Heart valvesurgery may be recommended for the following conditions:

Narrowing of the heart valve (stenosis)
Leaking of the heart valve (regurgitation)

Valve problems may be caused by infections such as rheumatic fever, birth defects, calcification, or certain medications such as Fen-Phen. Defective valves may cause congestive heart failure and infections (infective endocarditis ).