Heart Valve Repair and Replacement
Experts at St. Peter’s Health Partners offer sophisticated heart valve repair procedures to improve the function of your heart. For severe disorders, care may include heart valve replacement.
Our team includes cardiologists, heart surgeons, and vascular surgeons, many of whom completed additional training through fellowships in heart surgery and minimally invasive heart therapies. They work together to tailor therapies to your needs. All our specialists stay current on the latest research so you receive the high-quality care you deserve. Their experience treating a high volume of heart valve repair and replacement patients helps more people achieve excellent results.
Who is Heart Valve Repair and Replacement Surgery For?
Heart valve disease occurs when one of four valves controlling blood flow into and out of the heart isn't working properly. It cannot correct itself without intervention. Heart valve repair and replacement procedures are used for patients when other medical therapies have not been successful.
Highlights of Our Heart Valve Repair and Replacement Program Include:
- Comprehensive Treatments: You recover in our cardiac critical care unit. After leaving the hospital, you may participate in our accredited outpatient cardiopulmonary rehabilitation program. Cardiac rehab helps you get back into your daily routine. Doctors, nurses, and therapists are in communication at every turn, so you can focus on healing.
- Heart-Lung Bypass: St. Peter’s Health Partners is one of the only places in the Capital Region offering extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). This mechanical system takes over heart and lung functioning during complex disease procedures.
- Life-saving Treatments: In the event your valve condition becomes an emergency, a member of our cardiac surgery team is always on standby to provide prompt treatments.
- Seamless Services: Patients with complex medical needs recover in our award-winning cardiac critical care unit. You also have access to a nationally recognized outpatient cardiopulmonary rehabilitation program. Heart valve disease experts maintain regular contact with staff in these programs to ensure your recovery stays on track.
- Support: If you have questions, we are here for you. Nurse coordinators and other experts explain what happens before, during, and after your procedure. Between appointments, we are available by phone or electronically using MyChart.
Heart Valve Repair and Replacement Techniques
Our experts perform minimally invasive, open, and hybrid procedures with a high level of precision. They work together to determine which approach is best for your circumstances:
Minimally Invasive
heart valve repair and replacement uses tiny incisions to deliver sophisticated therapies. We use minimally invasive techniques whenever possible because they’re gentler on your body. Doctors use tiny tubes (catheters) and a special camera to repair or replace valves.
Open Heart Surgery
uses traditional methods, including larger incisions. This approach is for people who are not eligible for minimally invasive procedures due to other medical conditions. They include abnormal heart structures and dangerous arrhythmias.
Hybrid Procedures
combine minimally invasive and open-heart techniques. You may benefit from the hybrid approach if you need more than one treatment. In addition to heart valve replacement, you may need heart bypass surgery to improve blood flow. Our specialists work together to deliver safe, coordinated care.
Available Heart Valve Repair Procedures
St. Peter’s Health Partners offers a broad range of heart valve repair procedures. A heart valve repair preserves your natural valve and nearby structures, lowering your risk of complications. It also prevents you from needing to be on blood thinners for life. Some of these options are not widely available in the Capital Region.
- Adult Congenital Surgery - Adult congenital surgery involves repair of heart defects that begin to cause symptoms during adulthood. This includes repairing holes in the heart or repairing valves that have defects since birth.
- Aortic Dissection and Aneurysm Repair - Dissection repair is often performed to treat a weakening and splitting of the wall of the aorta, which is life-threatening. Aneurysm repair is removal and replacement of an enlarged portion of the aorta with synthetic or biologic tissue. This less-invasive technique allows placement of a stent in the diseased portion of the aorta.
- Aortic Valve Surgery - Aortic valve surgery is performed to correct a valve that is leaking or does not open enough to allow blood to leave the heart. If the valve leaflets appear structurally normal, valve repair may be performed. Often valve replacement is undertaken for structurally destroyed valve leaflets.
- Balloon Aortic Valvuloplasty (BAV) - BAV is for narrowing (stenosis) affecting the aortic valve. This valve regulates oxygen-rich blood flow out to the body. We inflate a balloon in the affected area to widen the opening.
- Balloon Mitral Valvotomy (BMV) - BMV is for mitral valve stenosis, which limits the flow of oxygen-poor blood out to the lungs. During this procedure, we inflate a balloon in the affected area to widen the opening.
- Chordal Transfer - Chordal transfer uses tissue from another area of the body to replace the tip of a floppy leaflet on a valve, improving its ability to properly regulate blood flow.
- Commissurotomy - Commissurotomy removes calcium deposits or scar tissue from valve leaflets, improving their ability to snap shut and properly regulate blood flow.
- Endovascular Aortic Repair (EVAR) - EVAR is used to repair aneurysms in the section of the aorta that passes through the abdominal area (abdominal aortic aneurysm or AAA). We use catheters to implant a stent graft, or a hollow mesh device covered in a special fabric. The stent graft reinforces the aorta’s walls, diverting blood flow away from the aneurysm and lowering the risk of rupture.
- Fenestrated Endovascular Aortic Repair (FEVAR) - FEVAR is for aortic aneurysms near the kidneys. As the aorta passes through this area, several arteries branch off it, creating a shape that traditional stent grafts can’t accommodate. FEVAR uses a stent graft with fenestrations (holes) that fit the branches of the aorta. The holes allow blood to flow through these branch arteries. The stent graft extends past the holes to reinforce the aorta near the kidneys.
- Leaflet Patching - Leaflet patching uses tissue from another body area to repair holes or tears in the leaflets of valves, improving their ability to properly regulate blood flow.
- Mitral Valve Repair - Mitral valve repair restores proper blood flow to a leaky or narrow mitral valve. A variety of surgical techniques may be used, depending on the cause of the mitral valve disease. Our surgeons are skilled at repairing the mitral valve, allowing patients to keep the valve and not require replacement. Mitral valve replacement is used to correct a destroyed valve that cannot be repaired.
- Quadrangular Resection - Quadrangular resection improves leaflet functioning by reshaping floppy tissue so it forms a tight seal on the valve.
- Thoracic Endovascular Aortic Repair (TEVAR) - TEVAR is similar to EVAR. It uses a smaller stent graft to reinforce the aorta as it passes through the chest.
- Transcatheter Mitral Valve Repair (TMVR) (MitraClip® Procedure) - The MitraClip® procedure is a less-invasive approach to valve repair known as transcatheter mitral valve repair (TMVR). Unlike surgery, MitraClip® therapy does not require opening the chest and temporarily stopping the heart. Instead, the MitraClip® device is attached to the mitral valve via a catheter inserted through the leg. The device allows the valve to close more completely and restore normal blood flow through the heart.
- Tricuspid Valve and Pulmonary Valve Repair - Tricuspid valve and pulmonary valve repairs are most commonly performed in diseased tricuspid valves to reshape and restore blood flow. If the valve is too damaged, valve replacement may be required. Pulmonary valve surgery is uncommon in adult patients and involves repairing or replacing the pulmonary valve to restore its function.
Heart Valve Replacement
Heart valve replacement may be necessary when the tissue becomes too stiff to open and close properly. You may also need a replacement if other medical conditions, like infections, cause damage that limits function. Here are some of the minimally invasive replacement procedures we offer. Patients who cannot have a minimally invasive procedure undergo valve replacement using traditional open heart surgery.