Type of Surgery
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Last updated: 02/17/2009
Congenital heart-valve disease occurs in one of every 1,000 newborns and is thought to be caused by inherited factors. In 2–4% of valve problems, health or environmental factors affecting the mother during pregnancy are believed to contribute to...
the defect. Pulmonary valve stenosis represents about 10% of all congenital heart problems. About 5% of all cardiac defects are stenosis of the aortic valve. Valve abnormalities are diagnosed in children and adults of both sexes; 80% of adult patients with stenosis are male, most adults with mitral stenosis are women who had rheumatic fever as a child. Tricuspid stenosis is rarely found in North America and Europe.
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Balloon valvuloplasty is a procedure in which a thin tube (catheter) that has a small deflated balloon at the tip is inserted through the skin in the groin area into a blood vessel, and then is threaded up to the opening of the narrowed heart valve. The balloon is inflated, which stretches the valve open. This procedure cures many valve obstructions. It is also called balloon enlargement of a narrowed heart valve.
The procedure is performed in a cardiac catheterization laboratory and takes up to four hours. The patient is usually awake, but is given local anesthesia to make the area where the catheter is inserted numb. After the site where the catheter will be inserted is prepared and anesthetized, the cardiologist inserts a catheter into the appropriate blood vessel, then passes a balloon-tipped catheter through the first catheter. Guided by a video monitor and an x ray, the physician slowly threads the catheter into the heart. The deflated balloon is positioned in the valve opening, then is inflated repeatedly. The inflated balloon widens the valve's opening by splitting the valve leaflets apart. Once the valve is widened, the balloon-tipped catheter is removed. The other catheter remains in place for 6 to 12 hours because in some cases the procedure must be repeated.
From https://www.lifesteps.com/gm/Atoz/ency/balloon_valvuloplasty.jsp
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In 2006, 2,192 heart transplantations were performed in the United States. There are 257 transplant hospitals in the United States, 135 of which perform heart transplantations. (http://www.unos.org/)
From: Unos.org
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