Mitral Valve Surgery

Anatomy of a Heart

The heart is the body’s most important organ, and within the heart the most important valve is the mitral valve. The heart has four chambers, two top chambers called atria and two bottom chambers called ventricles. The mitral valve exists between the left atrium and the main pumping chamber the left ventricle. When the mitral valve is leaking, known as mitral regurgitation, blood from your left ventricle gets pumped backwards into the left atrium and then back into your lungs — a potentially dangerous or even deadly condition.

Mitral Valve

When the mitral valve is damaged, commonly known as mitral valve prolapse, it can leak resulting in mitral regurgitation. This causes blood to back up into the left atrium and the lungs resulting on a serious strain on the normal function of the heart.

Are you short of breath when you exercise or try to sleep?
Do you get swelling in your legs?

Warning Signs of Mitral Regurgitation

shortness of breath, especially during exertion or when lying down
fatigue, particularly during increased physical activity
cough, particularly when lying down or at night
heart palpitations (rapid, fluttering heartbeat)
swollen feet or ankles
heart murmur
You could have congestive heart failure or a weakened heart as a result of mitral regurgitation. These are not benign conditions. If left for too long, they can lead to irreversible structural changes in your heart causing damage to the heart muscle, heart rhythm irregularities (atrial fibrillation), stroke, worsening heart failure or even death.

Using a variety of diagnostic imaging and monitoring tests, physicians at The Tampa Bay Heart Institute can accurately determine the presence and severity of mitral regurgitation enabling them to recognize this condition and intervene early.

Repairing the Valve

In the past, the only options patients with mitral regurgitation had were medications to attempt to improve symptoms or to simply replace the mitral valve with an artificial valve made from either metal or pig tissue. Unfortunately, mitral valve replacement alters the natural function of the heart muscle. Though works fine for many people, there is now a far better solution for the natural functioning and longevity of the heart: mitral valve repair.

Thanks to recent advances, the entire valve no longer has to be replaced. Instead, surgical reconstruction of the mitral valve is an excellent and safe alternative. Through proper early intervention repair can be performed by certain specially trained heart surgeons, and the heart structures can return to near normal before heart damage occurs. Once the valve has been repaired, the patient is left with his or her own mitral valve in place with no chance of rejection or disturbance of the body, only improved function.

By working through a three-inch incision, the team at The Tampa Bay Heart Institute locates the area where the mitral valve has weakened. Once the damaged portion of the valve is found, the damaged tissues are rebuilt and a ring is placed at the base of the valve to provide extra support to reinforce the repaired area to complete the reconstruction of the valve and restore the natural functioning of the valve.

New Valve = Newfound Vigor

Following mitral valve reconstruction, patients are typically out of bed the evening of surgery and can return home in four or five days. When asked how they feel after the surgery, patients commonly respond that they feel great and have more energy than they have had in years. In a short amount of time, most patients return to their daily routines with no limitations and can resume activities that were difficult or even impossible because of the symptoms of mitral regurgitation.