Heart Valve Disease - Is It Worse Than Cancer?
JUN 04, 2024Many people put up with symptoms like shortness of breath and fatigue, or explain away a heart murmur that’s actually a sign of something more serious.
Read MoreImagine a tiny fastener repairing a leaky valve. Now imagine that little fastener being placed inside your heart.
A breakthrough innovation using such a device is making it possible for more people with something called mitral valve regurgitation to be treated with a minimally invasive procedure – rather than undergo open heart surgery to repair or replace the valve.
You probably know your heart pumps blood through its chambers and into the body. But did you know heart valves keep blood flowing in the right direction? That’s what the mitral valve does. It moves oxygen-rich blood from the left atrium into the left ventricle. The mitral valve’s two leaflets open and close quickly to allow blood to move forward while preventing it from escaping backward into the left atrium.
Sometimes the leaflets don’t close completely. This can occur when special chords which attach the leaflets to your heart muscle stretch or become ruptured. When that happens, the valve leaks and lets blood flow backward. This is called mitral regurgitation. It can be mild to severe and symptoms include:
Sometimes, the mitral valve is pulled apart and leaks from the center. Called secondary mitral regurgitation, this happens in people with atrial fibrillation, heart failure or other heart conditions.
Treatment options for MR traditionally included medication for mild cases and open heart surgery for more severe MR. More recently, a minimally invasive procedure was developed which involves implanting a special device in the leaky portion of the mitral valve.
It works like this:
The benefits of the procedure include a shorter hospital stay and improved quality of life, and improved survival, all without the need for undergoing open heart surgery. This device was the first the FDA had approved in 2013 for patients with primary mitral regurgitation where there is primary defect with the leaflets of the valve due to excess tissue, loose or ruptured support or thickened leaflets. In March of 2019, the FDA approved this treatment approach for secondary mitral regurgitation patients who are too high risk for surgery. That means more people than ever before can take advantage of this technology.
Contact a CHI Health Cardiologist for more information.
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