Valve disease treatment

If you’re experiencing shortness of breath, weakness upon exertion, rapid heartbeat, discomfort in the chest, or fainting spells, you might have valvular heart disease. Our cardiac surgeons are here to help get your heart back on beat.

The experts at our innovative heart valve clinics use a multidisciplinary approach in the diagnosis and treatment of valve and structural heart conditions, including aortic stenosis, mitral stenosis and regurgitation. This means you can count on the latest in medical therapies and in surgical, minimally invasive or transcatheter procedures. 

What is valvular heart disease? 

Valvular heart disease (VHD) occurs when your heart valves don’t work as well as they should because of problems caused by disease, aging or birth defect. 

Any valve problem can make your heart work harder and less efficiently as it pumps blood to your body. This may cause your heart to thicken, stiffen or enlarge. When your heart can no longer pump blood adequately, heart failure may occur affecting your quality and length of life.

Doctors classify heart valve problems by the specific valve involved and the type of valve defect, such as:

• Narrow valve (mitral stenosis)
• Narrow aorta (aortic stenosis or aortic valve stenosis)
• Weak or leaking valve or aorta (mitral regurgitation or aortic regurgitation), resulting in blood flowing backward
• Failed valve
• Surgical valve leaking (paravalvular leak)

Diagnosing valvular heart disease 

Valvular heart disease is usually diagnosed using one or more of these techniques:

• Physical examination: Your doctor may detect a murmur (an unusual heart sound that can be heard with a stethoscope), signs of an enlarged heart or fluid in your lungs.
• Electrocardiogram (EKG): A recording of electrical activity in your heart can help detect heart chamber enlargement, abnormal heart rhythms or heart muscle damage.
• Echocardiogram: This is the most common way to detect and monitor aortic stenosis. This test uses ultrasound to create two-dimensional images of your heart, valves and surrounding structures.
• CT scan or MRI: These tests create three-dimensional images of your heart and valves.

Valvular heart disease treatment

Our philosophy of care is holistic and built around shared decision-making with you, your family and your referring doctor. We do this to make sure you receive the highest quality care – and the care that’s right for you. 

When developing your treatment plan for valvular heart disease, we’ll look at the type and severity of your condition. If you have a minor or less severe heart valve problem, we may recommend monitoring by your doctor with scheduled visits and medications. If the condition is more severe, we may recommend interventional procedures or surgery to repair or replace your heart valve.

Open heart surgery

When other interventions aren’t able to correct your heart valve problem, our cardiology experts may recommend traditional open heart valve surgery. In this procedure, we replace the defective valve with a biological or mechanical heart valve. If your existing valve can be repaired, we may do a surgical valvulotomy to correct the damage rather than replace the valve.

Alternatives to open heart surgery

Sometimes, open-heart surgery is not always ideal for everyone. Fortunately, there are alternatives using minimally invasive or non-surgical procedures. These procedures include:

• Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), where we insert a new artificial aortic heart valve via a catheter through a small incision in your groin or chest to treat severe aortic valve stenosis
• Transcatheter mitral valve repair (TMVR) to treat severe mitral valve regurgitation in which we insert the FDA-approved MitraClip through a small incision and clip together your leaky valve
• Percutaneous balloon valvuloplasty, a non-surgical, catheter-based procedure that we use to treat valvular stenosis

Contact us to schedule a consultation and find answers to any questions about TAVR or TMVR.

Recovery after surgery

You’ll receive one-on-one care from our specially trained and compassionate nurses. Our state-of-the-art critical care unit has private rooms and a large waiting area for extended family to gather. Open visiting hours ensure you never need to be far from your loved ones.

Once you leave the hospital, you’ll receive excellent follow-up care and participate in cardiac rehabilitation.

Why choose Advocate Heart Institute for valvular heart disease? 

At Advocate Heart Institute, you can feel confident with our expert cardiology care. Together, our large, multidisciplinary team of specialists offer unmatched:   

• Experience: We have one of the top cardiac programs in the U.S. Performing more than 20,000 procedures every year, our cardiology teams have experience with all types of procedures and all types of conditions.  
• Quality: Our safety-first culture permeates everything we do. We participate in the National Cardiovascular Data Registry that benchmarks our outcomes against other programs. Our high ratings mean fewer complications and better results.   
• Teamwork: Working closely together, our cardiologists, surgeons, electrophysiologists and other specialists develop a customized treatment plan that’s just right for you.   
• Technology: We offer the latest programs and treatments that you may not find elsewhere in the area. Cardiology technology changes rapidly, and we continuously upgrade our equipment and learn the latest, most advanced techniques. And we participate in cutting-edge research and clinical trials to ensure access to the newest innovations.