Valves in the heart ensure unidirectional flow of blood inside the heart. There are 4 important valves, namely Mitral, Tricuspid, Pulmonary and the Aortic valve. This mechanism ensures proper circulatory system with progressive flow of blood to different parts of the body.
Due to various conditions from infection, genetics to ageing, these valves undergo degeneration and malfunction.
Valves can undergo
At these times, there is severe compromise of the circulation and delivery of blood to different parts of the body.
Common symptoms of heart valve failure are-
Surgery is recommended to repair or replace the valves with artificial ones for efficient functioning of the circulatory system when medications are not sufficient to relieve the symptoms. During a heart valve surgery, cardiac surgeons repair or replace the existing damaged heart valves with new artificial ones by open heart or minimally invasive cardiac surgery.
Different types of heart valve surgeries:
1. Open Valve Replacement Surgery
A traditional technique that has stood the test of time is the open valve surgery which uses artificial valves to replace the existing diseased valves.
This is a preferred method in cases of
2. Trans-Catheter Valve Replacement (TVR)
One of the novel minimally invasive surgeries that has revolutionized the treatment of aortic stenosis. Compared to the traditional open valve surgery, this technique enables the patient for early recovery, early mobility, and much shorter duration of hospital stay, generally reserved for patients who are high risk for open-heart valve surgery.
3. Valve Repair
Valves with pliable, thin leaflets, with tear of the leaflet segment or which are near normal and redundant because of a flail segment are generally repaired to preserve the native valve and reduce the morbidity associated with valve replacement.
Minimally Invasive Heart Valve Surgery
Since long, heart surgeries have always been open heart surgeries where they involved opening of the chest cavity and directly visualising the heart to perform the procedure. This involved increased ICU stay, high rates of infection, prolonged bed rest, increased need for pain-killers, prolonged recovery periods, usually weeks. With novel techniques and better understanding of the anatomy and development of radiology, we are now able to perform minimally invasive, key-hole surgeries that can replace or repair heart valves offering better outcomes on all terms, compared to the traditional approach. Some of the commonly performed minimally invasive techniques are:
