When and how to treat a leaky mitral valve?
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How dangerous is mitral valve replacement surgery?
Possible risks of mitral valve repair and mitral valve replacement surgery include: Bleeding; Blood clots; Valve dysfunction in replacement valves; Heart rhythm problems; Infection; Stroke; Death; How you prepare. Your doctor may order several tests to get more information about your heart condition, including an echocardiogram.
Should I worry about mild mitral regurgitation?
Mitral valve regurgitation is often mild and progresses slowly. You may have no symptoms for many years and be unaware that you have this condition, and it might not progress. Your doctor might first suspect you have mitral valve regurgitation upon detecting a heart murmur.
What harm can a thickened mitral valve cause?
What Harm Can a Thickened Mitral Valve Cause? Mitral valve thickening is a feature of mitral valve stenosis and can cause complications that include atrial fibrillation, infective endocarditis, pulmonary hypertension, pulmonary edema and systemic embolisms, explains Medscape.
How do you fix a mitral valve Regurg?
To treat mitral valve regurgitation, your surgeon might shape, rebuild, or trim the flaps that open and close the valve or fix the chords that attach them to the heart. The surgeon might also sew a ring of cloth, tissue or metal around the valve to tighten it and stop blood from leaking backwards.
Can you live a long life with mitral valve regurgitation?
Most people with mitral valve prolapse can lead active, long lives. It is important to receive ongoing medical care to monitor your condition, to follow a heart healthy diet and get regular exercise. If symptoms appear or worsen, they can usually be controlled with medicines.
How serious is a mitral valve replacement?
As with any surgical procedure, mitral valve surgery has risks. The most serious complications associated with mitral valve surgery include stroke, placement of a pacemaker, kidney failure, lung failure, and wound infection. Fortunately, these are unusual.
How long do you live after mitral valve replacement?
Overall 1‐ and 5‐year survival was 90.7%, 74.2% versus 81.3%, 61.0% (P<0.01). Median survival after MV ‐repair was 7.8 years, close to 8.5 years (95% CI : 8.2–9.4) in the age‐matched UK population (ratio 0.9). Rate of re‐operation for MV ‐dysfunction was 2.3% versus 2.5% (mitral valve replacement, P=1.0).
What is the average age for heart valve replacement?
Fact: Valve Replacement and Heart Bypass surgery (or a combination of the two) are the most common procedures in the “elderly.” Fact: More than 30% of the patients having heart valve surgery are over 70. Fact: More than 20% of heart valve surgical patients are over 75 years of age.
Does mitral valve regurgitation shorten your life?
Both stenosis and regurgitation impact the flow of blood through the heart and body. Ultimately, stenosis and regurgitation can lead to heart damage, heart failure and death.
What is the success rate of heart mitral valve replacement surgery?
With proper patient selection and timely intervention, the estimated success rate of mitral valve repair surgery is around 95%. Almost 95% of patients are free of reoperation for 10 years. At 20 years, around 90% of people do not need reoperation for mitral valve repair.
Is it better to have a mitral valve repaired or replaced?
Whenever possible, it's better to repair the mitral valve rather than replace it.” Mitral valve repair may help you to avoid complications that can occur with mitral valve replacement, including the risk of blood clots with mechanical valves.
Is mitral valve repair major surgery?
Open mitral valve repair is major surgery that requires general anesthesia. This means the anesthesiologist will give you medicine to make you fall asleep and prevent you from feeling any pain. Any general anesthesia involves risks, including the risk of heart or brain injury.
Does valve replacement shorten your life?
Patients who have undergone surgical replacement of the heart's aortic valve have a shorter life expectancy than the normal population, the loss in life expectancy being particularly marked in the young.
Can you live a normal life after heart valve replacement?
Pooled data from 85 studies estimated that 89.7% of people survived for two years after surgery, 78.4% at five years, 57.0% at 10 years, 39.7% at 15 years, and 24.7% at 20 years.
How painful is mitral valve surgery?
You will be asleep during the operation and will feel no pain. Some surgeons may prefer to perform the surgery through a small incision in the breastbone (sternum) or under the right pectoral muscle in your chest - these are called minimally invasive procedures.
What is the procedure called to repair a mitral valve?
Surgeons often may tighten or reinforce the ring around the valve (annulus) in a procedure called an annuloplasty. Doctors may perform certain mitral valve repair procedures using a long, thin tube (catheter) and clips or other devices.
What to do if your mitral valve isn't repaired?
In this procedure, your doctor removes the mitral valve and replaces it with a mechanical valve or a valve made from cow, pig or human heart tissue (biological tissue valve).
What to expect when you have mitral valve disease?
What you can expect. If you have mitral valve disease, you may eventually need mitral valve repair or mitral valve replacement surgery to treat your condition. Your doctor may often recommend mitral valve repair if possible, as it preserves your mitral valve and may preserve heart function.
Why do my mitral valves bulge?
This commonly occurs due to valve leaflets bulging back — a condition called mitral valve prolapse. In another condition, called mitral valve stenosis, the leaflets become thick or stiff, and they may fuse together. This results in a narrowed valve opening and reduced blood flow through the valve.
Where is the mitral valve located?
Mitral valve repair and mitral valve replacement are procedures that may be performed to treat diseases of the mitral valve — the valve located between the left heart chambers (left atrium and left ventricle).
Why do doctors preserve cords during heart surgery?
When possible, doctors may preserve the cords supporting the valve during the procedure, in order to preserve as much of the heart's function as possible. In some cases, a catheter procedure may be conducted to insert a replacement valve in a biological tissue valve in the heart that is no longer working properly.
How long do you stay in the ICU after surgery?
After the ICU, you'll be moved to a regular hospital room for several days. The time you spend in the ICU and hospital can vary, depending on your condition and the type of surgery you had. Your treatment team may monitor your condition and watch for signs of infection in your incision sites.
Why do you need to replace a mitral valve?
You may need to have your mitral valve repaired or replaced if your condition starts to affect your heart’s ability to pump blood. The decision on whether to fix it and what type of procedure to use depends on several things: The severity of your valve problem.
How to repair a heart valve?
Your surgeon may make a small cut, or incision, into your chest to guide it in. For others, open-heart surgery is the best option. This is the most common way to repair or replace your heart valve.
What is the mitral valve?
Your mitral valve is one of the parts that makes this happen. It’s located between two of the four chambers in your heart: the left atrium and the left ventricle. When it’s working the right way, the valve opens up and allows blood to flow out of the atrium, which is above it. It’s then supposed to close back up.
Can regurgitation cause heart failure?
It can also cause high blood pressure and a buildup of fluid in your lungs. If it’s left untreated and gets worse, regurgitation could lead to heart failure, stroke, or blood clots because the heart can’t pump enough blood to your body.
Can medicine reverse regurgitation?
Medicine cannot reverse the actual condition. But it can treat many of the symptoms regurgitation causes and can be used if the leakage isn’t too bad. Depending on what’s going on in your body, your doctor may put you or a loved one on the following: Sometimes, lifestyle changes and medications aren’t enough.
Can you feel pain during open heart surgery?
If you get a replacement, the valve may be a man-made device or it could come from a pig, a cow, or someone who signed up for organ donation before they died. During open-heart surgery, you’ll be given something so you won’t be awake. You will not feel pain during the procedure. Other Types of Surgery.
Can a doctor use a catheter for surgery?
Catheters. Your doctor may not think you’re healthy enough for surgery or that the fix can be made with something easier on you. Some hospitals are able to use catheters to repair or replace the valve. There are several types of procedures that use these small, flexible tubes.
How to repair mitral valve?
If your surgeon needs to repair your mitral valve through tiny incisions (without opening up your chest), here are minimally invasive surgical options: 1 Right mini-thoracotomy. The surgeon inserts special instruments and repairs the valve through a 2- to 3-inch incision in a skin fold on the right side of the chest. 2 Partial upper sternotomy. This also involves a 2- to 3-inch incision, this time in the upper portion of the sternum. This gives the surgeon easier access to repair the valve. 3 Robotically assisted mitral valve repair. In this case, your surgeon works through a few incisions of about 1 inch or less. With a computer console, the surgeon can control instruments on thin robotic arms. This allows him or her to open the thin sac around your heart to perform the repair.
How does a robotic mitral valve repair work?
In this case, your surgeon works through a few incisions of about 1 inch or less. With a computer console, the surgeon can control instruments on thin robotic arms. This allows him or her to open the thin sac around your heart to perform the repair.
What is it called when a valve doesn't open?
If your valve doesn’t open properly, this is known as mitral valve stenosis. “We see mitral valve stenosis in patients who were exposed to a lot of radiation from breast cancer or lung cancer treatments or in some patients with calcification of mitral valve without obvious causes,” he says.
What is the mitral valve?
The mitral valve allows oxygen-rich blood flowing from the lungs to return to the heart. “The most common valve problem is leakage, also known as mitral valve regurgitation ,” Dr. Kapadia says. “If the blood leaks back into the lungs, it causes you to have shortness of breath.”.
Is mitral valve surgery life threatening?
If failing health or a weak heart makes open surgery a higher risk for you, there are safer surgical options. “In some situations, mitral valve disease is not life threatening and does not require surgery,” Dr. Kapadia says.
Can a surgeon repair a mitral valve?
Medication is sometimes a solution, but surgeons also may use minimally invasive options to repair the mitral valve. Researchers are also investigating several promising mitral valve replacement options. “Percutaneous (through the skin) mitral valve repair and replacement techniques are rapidly growing. They help patients who currently do not have ...
Can mitral valve disease be solved?
While mitral valve disease can lead to severe heart failure, it can often be solved with open surgery. But, what if you are unable to undergo major surgery because of other health issues?
What is the procedure for mitral valve repair?
Many patients with mitral valve disease have atrial fibrillation, (an abnormal heart rhythm.) For these patients, at the time of mitral valve repair, Cleveland Clinic surgeons perform an ablation (Maze procedure) with the intent of curing the atrial fibrillation. In some patients with atrial fibrillation, a sternotomy (standard) ...
What causes mitral regurgitation?
The most common cause of mitral regurgitation is a condition called degenerative mitral valve disease —this is also called mitral valve prolapse, myxomatous mitral valve disease, and a floppy mitral valve. Such valves can be repaired (rather than replaced) in more than 95% of patients. Cleveland Clinic heart surgeons have ...
What is a prolapsed mitral valve?
Mitral valve prolapse is a common condition in which the mitral valve leaflets are floppy or loose. Mitral valve prolapse is diagnosed by echocardiography. Most patients with mitral valve prolapse do not have a leaky valve and do not require surgery.
What is the grade of a leak in a regurgitation?
In most facilities, the regurgitation (leak) is graded on a scale from 0 to 4, with 0 being no leak and 4 being a severe leak. Surgery should be considered in virtually all patients with a leak that is graded as a 4 (severe) and in some patients with a leak that is graded as a 3 (moderately severe).
Can you reoperation after mitral valve repair?
Thus, reoperation is uncommon after a successful mitral valve repair. An echocardiogram is recommended annually to assess valve function. In addition, patients who had valve surgery must take steps to prevent infection and reduce the risk of endocarditis (an infection of the valve).
Can a Cleveland Clinic surgeon repair a leaking mitral valve?
In these re-operative settings, Cleveland Clinic surgeons can safely and effectively repair nearly all leaking mitral valves.
Can a mitral valve be repaired?
In rare instances, a mitral valve repair may fail over time. While most surgeons replace such valves, Cleveland Clinic surgeons can frequently re-repair these valves, offering excellent long-term durability and the important advantages that go with mitral valve repair.
What is the treatment for a damaged mitral valve?
If a patient’s mitral valve is severely damaged to the extent that a successful repair is not possible, surgery to replace it is the likely treatment. The valve is replaced with either a bioprosthetic (tissue) valve or mechanical valve.
What is the procedure to repair a mitral valve?
Open-heart surgery is the traditional method of mitral valve repair and replacement. In open-heart surgery , a 6- to 8-inch incision is made down the center of the sternum (breastbone) to open the chest. The patient’s heart is then stopped and connected to a heart-lung machine for the duration of the surgery.
What is a transcatheter valve?
Transcatheter valve technology represents a less invasive means for treating valve disease and is designed to allow physicians to deliver repair devices or replacement valves via a catheter through the body's cardiovascular system, thus eliminating the need to open the chest.
What is mitral valve repair?
Mitral valve repair is one of the few cardiac procedures where a patient’s life horizon returns to what it would have been naturally without a mitral valve condition. Performing these repairs early in the disease process before a patient's mitral valve disease progresses into advanced heart conditions such as congestive heart failure, atrial fibrillation, and pulmonary hypertension is our top priority.
What is a catheter used for in valvuloplasty?
A catheter is then guided through a vein to the heart. Valvuloplasty may be used to treat stenosis, or narrowing, of the mitral valve. During valvuloplasty, a thin catheter (tube) with a balloon tip is used to stretch or open the mitral valve.
What is the Mitral Valve Repair Reference Center?
Michigan Medicine is honored to be one of the first 5 medical centers recognized for best practices in heart valve repair with The Mitral Valve Repair Reference Center award. This award was initiated by the Mitral Foundation and the American Heart Association to assist patients and cardiologists in identifying hospitals with excellent processes and outcomes.
How long does a mechanical valve last?
Mitral valve replacement with a mechanical valve typically lasts 20 to 25 years.
What causes mitral valve regurgitation?
Other causes of mitral valve disease include: Ischemic heart disease (coronary artery disease) Infection of the heart valves. Heart failure.
How do you know if you have a mitral valve replacement?
Most people who have mitral valve replacement notice immediate symptom relief after their surgery. The team will carefully monitor your vital signs, such as your heart rate. They may hook you up to several machines so the nurses can check these more easily. You may have a tube in your throat to help you breathe.
What is an open mitral valve?
An open mitral valve replacement is a surgery to replace a poorly working mitral valve with an artificial valve. The mitral valve is 1 of the heart’s 4 valves. It helps blood flow through the heart and out to the body. The mitral valve lies between the left atrium and the left ventricle. Your doctor will replace your poorly working mitral valve ...
How long does it take to wake up after mitral valve surgery?
You will begin your recovery in the intensive care unit or a recovery room. When you wake up, you might feel confused at first. You might wake up a couple of hours after the surgery, or a little later. Most people who have mitral valve replacement notice immediate symptom relief after their surgery.
How to access your heart?
To access your heart, your doctor will separate your breastbone. The surgery team will attach you to a heart-lung machine. This machine will act as your heart and lungs during the procedure. Your surgeon will remove your current mitral heart valve and replace it with a new valve. The surgery team will remove the heart-lung machine.
Can a mitral valve be repaired?
Surgical repair of the mitral valve is often possible, but sometimes the valve needs to be replaced. Mitral valve stenosis and mitral valve regurgitation (also known as mitral insufficiency) are two different types of problems that might need valve replacement. In mitral valve stenosis, the valve is unable to open fully, ...
How to get rid of fluids in lungs after surgery?
If you need it, you can ask for pain medicine. In a day or two, you should be able to sit in a chair and walk with help. You may perform breathing therapy to help remove fluids that collect in your lungs during surgery. You will probably be able to drink the day after surgery.
How long do you stay home after mitral regurgitation?
Some patients can go home after a few hours of monitoring while others may have to stay a day or two based on their condition. Most patients will be discharged with medication instructions.
What happens if the mitral valve doesn't close properly?
When your mitral valve doesn’t close properly, blood can flow backward from the left ventricle to the left atrium and eventually the lungs. The defective valve does not shut tightly hence the term mitral valve insufficiency.
How long does a mitral valve clip last?
The mitral valve clip procedure is usually scheduled and performed in an outpatient setting. The entire procedure usually lasts between 1 to 3 hours, although it can take longer depending on the complexity of the case.
What are the symptoms of a defective heart valve?
Backflow of blood to the lungs can lead to symptoms of dizziness, shortness of breath, swelling of the legs and feet called edema, and fatigue.
Is it safe to use a mitral valve clip?
The mitral valve clip procedure is generally considered safe but like all medical procedures, there are potential risks. Two procedural complications include: 3 . Vascular complications: While advancing the mitral valve clip device, the force applied in the groin may damage the femoral artery.
Is mitral valve clip a curative treatment?
It is important to note that the mitral valve clip is not a curative treatment so for more severe cases, surgical repair or replacement is a better option. The mitral valve clip is also contraindicated in those who cannot ...
Does a mitral valve clip reduce regurgitation?
Although a mitral valve clip may significantly reduce mitral valve regurgitation, sometimes called mitral valve insufficiency, it rarely eliminates the condition altogether , although patients may report a significant reduction in their symptoms a few days after the procedure is performed.
Diagnosis
- Your doctor will ask about your medical history and your family history of heart disease. Your doctor will also perform a physical exam that includes listening to your heart with a stethoscope. Mitral valve regurgitation usually produces a sound of blood leaking backward through the mitra…
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Lifestyle and Home Remedies
Coping and Support
Preparing For Your Appointment
Overview
Why It's Done
Risks
How You Prepare
What You Can Expect
Results
- Mitral valve repair and replacement surgery may help reduce symptoms and improve quality of life in people with mitral valve disease. If you had mitral valve replacement with a mechanical valve, you'll need blood thinners for life to prevent blood clots. Biological tissue valves break down (degenerate) over time and usually need to be replaced. Reg...
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