Heart valve surgeries and procedures are performed to repair or replace heart valves that are not functioning properly due to valvular heart disease (also called valvular heart disease). Heart valve surgery in India is an open-heart surgery through the breastbone into the chest. This is a major surgery that can take two hours or more, and recovery often takes several weeks. There are newer, less invasive procedures that are suitable for certain types of heart valve disease but are only performed in certain hospitals.
Why was it done?
Heart valve surgery is performed to treat heart valve disease. There are two main types of heart valve problems:
valve narrowing (stenosis)
Leakage of the valve that allows blood to return (regurgitation)
You may need heart valve surgery if you have a heart valve disorder that affects your heart’s ability to pump blood.
If you have no signs or symptoms, or your condition is mild, your doctor may recommend regular monitoring of heart valve disease. Lifestyle changes and medication can help manage symptoms.
Doctors sometimes recommend heart valve surgery even for those who have no symptoms. If you need heart surgery for another condition, your doctor can repair or replace your heart valves at the same time. You should discuss with your doctor whether heart valve surgery is right for you and whether minimally invasive heart surgery is an option.
Risk
Possible risks of heart valve surgery include:
Bloody
Heart attack
Infection
Valve malfunction affects the valve being replaced
Irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia)
Dead
How to prepare?
Your doctor and care team will discuss your heart valve surgery with you and answer any questions. Before you are admitted to the hospital for heart valve surgery, talk to your family about your hospitalization and what help you will need when you return home.
Food and Medicine
Before having heart valve surgery, talk to your doctor about:
When to take your regular medication and can you take it before surgery?
allergies or reactions to drugs
When to stop eating or drinking the night before surgery
clothes and personal items
If you have heart valve surgery, your healthcare team may suggest that you take several items to the hospital, including:
Register your medicine
Glasses, hearing aids or prostheses
Personal care items such as brushes, combs, razors and toothbrushes
Loose and comfortable clothes
A copy of your temporary order
Items that help you relax, such as a portable music player or books
Do not use during heart valve surgery:
Jewelry
Glasses
Contact lens
Prosthesis
Nail polish
Heart valve repair
Mitral valve repair
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Your doctor may often recommend heart valve repair whenever possible because it protects the heart valves and can maintain heart function. Heart valve surgery can include:
Fix the hole in the valve
Repositioning the valve cap (reed or cap)
Remove excess valve tissue to allow leaflets or teeth to close tightly
Replacement of cable support valve to repair structural support
Melted insulating valve that has melted
Tighten or tighten the ring around the valve (ring).
Some heart valve repair procedures are performed using a long, thin tube (catheter) and forceps, plugs, or other devices.
Doctors can treat narrowed valves with a catheter procedure called balloon valvuloplasty. The doctor places a thin, flexible tube (catheter) with a balloon over it in the artery in the arm or groin and directs it toward the affected valve.
The balloon inflates, widening the opening of the heart valves. The doctors then removed the balloon and removed the catheter and balloon.
Heart valve replacement
Biological valve replacement
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Mechanical valve replacement
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If your heart valve cannot be repaired and a catheter-based procedure is not an option, the valve may need to be replaced. To replace a heart valve, doctors remove the heart valve and replace it with a mechanical valve or a valve made from cow, pig, or human heart tissue (biological valve).
Biological valves often need to be replaced at some point as they wear out over time. If you have a mechanical valve, you will need to take blood thinners for life to prevent blood clots from forming. Your doctor will discuss the risks and benefits of each type of valve with you.
Certain heart valves can be replaced using a minimally invasive catheter procedure. For example, a catheter procedure may be performed to insert a replacement valve into a replacement biologic valve in the heart that is no longer functioning properly.
