Heart valve disease interrupts the normal flow of blood through your heart’s four valves — aortic valve, mitral valve, pulmonic valve and tricuspid valve — and can be very dangerous to your health.
Mitral valve regurgitation, the most common type of valve disorder, often comes on suddenly after a heart attack. It can also be caused by mitral valve prolapse (MVP), a condition that happens when the two valve flaps inside the mitral valve do not close evenly. MVP is also called “floppy valve syndrome,” click-murmur syndrome and Barlow’s syndrome.
In addition to MVP and heart attack, there are many different causes for heart valve disease, including endocarditis, rheumatic fever, aortic aneurysm and hypertension.
Sutter’s heart specialists offer comprehensive treatment for valve stenosis and regurgitation with excellent outcomes. We have expertise in performing a variety of heart valve surgeries including valve repair and valve replacement both as open heart and minimally invasive procedures. To determine if you're a candidate for heart surgery, your doctor may refer you fordiagnostic procedures, such as a cardiac catheterization.
The Sutter Health network provides several ground-breaking minimally invasive procedures to treat patients who aren't candidates for open heart surgery, such as:
- Non-surgical mitral valve repair - Mitral Clip
- Non-surgical mitral valve replacement - TMVR
- Transcatheter aortic valve repair (TAVR)
These procedures use catheters, echocardiogram and X-ray guidance, and technologically advanced implantable devices to treat aortic stenosis and mitral regurgitation, avoiding the need for open heart surgery. They allow for quick recovery times, meaning most patients are released from the hospital the very next day.
If you're interested in learning more about these treatments, speak to your doctor or care team. You can also speak to a Sutter Health network coordinator about these procedures:
- Bay Area - (877) 283-2873
- Sacramento/Central Valley - (916) 887-4242
Many of our heart care programs have been nationally recognized and named among the best by organizations such as the American Heart Association, the American College of Cardiology, U.S. News & World Report, Truven Health Analytics and the Joint Commission.
