Untreated valve disease can cause heart failure, strokes, and death.
While mild and moderate cases of valve disease often do not need to be treated right away, valve disease is progressive and does get worse over time. Before valve disease becomes heart valve failure, it’s critical to discuss a treatment plan with your healthcare professional.
You can’t stop your valve disease or undo the damage already done. Make sure you have a treatment plan in place before you are in heart valve failure.
DON’T WAIT — IT COULD BE TOO LATE
Valve Repair & Replacement
Your valve may need to be repaired or replaced with a new valve.
- Repair – if possible, your valve will be repaired by adding tissue to patch holes, removing or reshaping tissue, separating fused valves, and more.
- Replacement – if your valve can’t be repaired, it will need to be replaced with a tissue or mechanical valve.
Depending on your disease, your healthcare professional will do the repair or replacement with:
- Open heart surgery – requires an incision in your chest (sternum) or minimally invasive through the side (mini-thoracotomy) using the heart lung machine to access your heart.
- Transcatheter repair or replacement procedure– a less invasive way of repairing or replacing your valve using a small tube that is inserted in your leg and threaded to your heart without the need for the heart lung machine. Some common transcatheter procedures include:Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) – an expandable bioprosthetic aortic valve is delivered by catheter and put in place, without the need to remove the old valve.
- Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) – an expandable bioprosthetic aortic valve is delivered by catheter and put in place, without the need to remove the old valve.
- Transcatheter Tricuspid Valve Replacement (TTVR) – an expandable bioprosthetic tricuspid valve is put in place over the old valve via catheter.
- Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve Replacement (TPVR) – also done by catheter, an expandable pulmonary valve is put in the place of the old valve
- Transcatheter Edge-to-Edge Repair (TEER) – a small device clip is attached to the leaflets of the mitral valve or tricuspid valve to reduce leakage.