Structural Heart and Valve
Heart valves open and close to aid blood flow through the chambers of the heart and out to the body. Damage to these valves can affect the heart's ability to supply the body with the blood it needs.
Heart valve disease occurs when:
- Heart valve leaflets do not open normally (stenosis), which restricts blood flow, or
- Valves do not close properly (regurgitation), causing leakage through the valve leaflets
The structural heart team at Lutheran Hospital understands the intricacies of treating heart valve disease. Specialists utilize advanced imaging and diagnostic testing to identify damaged valves (aortic, mitral, pulmonary or tricuspid) and repair or replace them using a minimally invasive catheter delivery system whenever possible.
Less-invasive procedures are often a solution for patients who are unable to have open heart surgery. Some transcatheter procedures are also approved for patients who remain low risk for surgery, allowing for quick recovery and return to active lifestyles.
These innovative techniques eliminate the use of bypass machines and reduce the amount of time needed for recovery.
- Mitral valve clips - treat mitral regurgitation; the clip grasps the heart valve leaflets and brings them together to prevent blood leakage
- Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) - used to resolve severe aortic stenosis; the new valve is delivered using a catheter
- Transcatheter pulmonic valve replacement - treats pulmonary valve stenosis using an approach similar to TAVR
- Valve-in-valve replacement - involves placing a valve inside of a replacement valve to avoid a second open heart surgery