Type of Surgery
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Last updated: 11/24/2009
Patients treated by mitral valve repair for mitral insufficiency can expect improved myocardial function and relief of symptoms. Oxygen consumption by skeletal
muscle continues to improve. Cardiac output improves and pulmonary...
hypertension resolves over several months after the initial decrease in left atrial pressure, pulmonary artery pressure, and pulmonary arteriolar resistance.
Excellent results in terms of improved cardiac function and symptom relief also are expected for patients that undergo mitral valve repair for mitral stenosis.
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This video includes echocardiogram information from a patient showing severe mitral valve prolapse and actual footage during repair of a mitral valve. This view is from inside the heart that has had all of the blood removed and diverted (not shown).
During a mitral valve repair, the patient's chest is opened along the sternum (A). The heart is connected to a heart-lung machine, and an incision is made into the right atrium, or upper chamber of the heart (B), exposing the mitral valve (C). A section of the valve is removed, and the area is repaired with sutures (D and E). A flexible fabric ring may be stitched to the outside of the valve to strengthen it, in a procedure called an annuloplasty (F). (Illustration by GGS Inc.)
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Mitral valve repair is a cardiac surgery procedure performed by cardiac surgeons to treat stenosis (narrowing) or regurgitation (leakage) of the mitral valve. The mitral valve is the "inflow valve" for the left side of the heart. Blood flows from the lungs, where it picks up oxygen, through the pulmonary veins, to the left atrium of the heart. After the left atrium fills with blood, the mitral valve allows blood to flow from the left atrium into the heart's main pumping chamber called the left ventricle. It then closes to keep blood from leaking back into the left atrium or lungs when the ventricle contracts (squeezes) to push blood out to the body. It has two flaps, or leaflets.
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We are trying to balance those kinds of losses with the profitable side of business, which includes doing more cardiac surgeries. An emphasis has been placed on cardiac care because the medium age of residents is increasing, and more people are showing up with symptoms of heart disease.
-Kevin M. Spiegel
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