Severe valve damage means the valve must be replaced and most often involves the mitral valve. It is also used to treat any life-threatening valve disease. Some patients may need more than one valve repaired or replaced.

Mechanical valves

Mechanical valves are usually made from materials such as plastic, carbon, or metal. These are strong and long-lasting. Because blood tends to stick to mechanical valves and create blood clots, patients need blood-thinning medicines (anticoagulants) for the rest of their lives.

Bioprosthetic valves

Bioprosthetic valves are made from animal tissue (called a xenograft) or taken from the human tissue of a donated heart (called an allograft or homograft). Sometimes, a patient's tissue can also be used for valve replacement (called an autograft).

During valve repair or replacement surgery, the breastbone is divided, the heart is stopped, and blood is sent through a heart-lung machine. Because the heart or the aorta must be opened, heart valve surgery is open heart surgery.

Percutaneous mitral valve repair (MVR) is a new treatment being investigated to determine the effectiveness of a percutaneous approach for treating mitral valve regurgitation. The procedure is performed using echocardiography in the cardiac cath laboratory.