How to Repair a Stenotic Heart Valve

The heart is made up of chambers and blood vessels which are connected through heart valves. Blood flows through these valves in a one way direction, permitting blood to flow from one area of the heart to another without any backflow. Valves have leaflets that are pushed open by the flow of blood and shut after blood passes through them. Due to disease and other conditions, the valve leaflets can become stenosed, or fused together, causing the opening of the valve to become narrow. Valvular stenosis impedes blood flow through the heart. Narrowing or stenosis of the valves can be reversed through surgery.

Instructions

• 1

  Perform a balloon valvuloplasty. This involves repair of the stenotic valve by passing a balloon-tipped catheter into the heart and toward the stenotic valve. The balloon is then repeatedly inflated and deflated, forcing the narrowed valve open and making the valve wider.

• 2

  Remove the stenosed valve in surgery, and replace it with a mechanical valve made of synthetic materials. Mechanical heart valves are prone to causing blood clots, so the patient must take anticoagulant medications.

• 3

  Remove the stenotic valve and replace it with a biological valve obtained from another human heart via organ donation from a deceased donor. Biological heart valves can also be created from animal tissue or from the patient's own tissues for use as a replacement valve.