Heart valve repair or replacement surgery is a treatment option for valvular heart disease. Sometimes, the valves don't open or close properly, disrupting the blood flow through your heart to our body, which means that less blood is pumped in the proper direction. Symptoms of aortic valve disease usually include:
- Fatigue
- Easy tiring
- Loss of energy
- Swelling of the ankles
- Palpitations (extra or skipped heart beats)
- Shortness of breath
- Chest pain
- Dizziness or loss of consciousness
Traditionally, repair or replacement of heart valves has involved open-heart surgery, which means that the chest is opened in the operating room and the heart stopped for a time so that the surgeon may repair or replace the valve(s) The bypass machine is necessary to pump blood because the heart is stopped and kept still while the surgeon performs the valve repair or replacement procedure.
Our surgeon can also perform minimally-invasive procedures to replace or repair heart valves: the incision is much smaller and this often mean less pain postoperatively and shorter hospital stays.
