Heart Valve Disease/Structural Heart Disease
When heart valves fail to open and close properly, it can hamper your heart's ability to pump blood through your body.
Your heart has four chambers–two atria, or upper chambers, and two ventricles, or lower chambers. Before your blood moves from one chamber to another, it passes through a valve to keep your blood from flowing backward.
Occasionally, these valves don’t work like they should. If your heart valves aren’t working properly, it’s typically due to regurgitation (valve leakage) or stenosis (valve narrowing).
Treatment Options
Treatment options for heart valve disease include:
- Surgery
- Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) - This is a less invasive procedure to replace a heart valve. It requires no surgical incision. It also results in a shorter hospital stay and recovery than open heart surgery.
- Left atrial appendage closure (Watchman) procedure - This device offers stroke protection from A-Fib without blood thinners. It requires no surgical incision and involves an overnight stay in the hospital.
- MitraClip - This procedure provides symptom relief from a leaking mitral valve. It requires no surgical incision and involves an overnight stay in the hospital.