Heart Valve Surgery

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Overview & Description

There are four valves in the heart:

1. Aortic valve
2. Mitral valve
3. Tricuspid valve
4. Pulmonary valve

The valves are designed to control the direction of blood flow through the heart. The opening and closing of the heart valves produce the sound of the heartbeat.

Heart valve surgery is open-heart surgery that is done while the patient is under general anesthesia. An incision is made through the breast bone (sternum). Tubes are used to re-route the blood away from the heart to a heart-lung bypass machine to keep the blood oxygenated and circulating while the heart is being operated on.

Valves may be repaired or replaced. Replacement heart valves are either natural (biologic) or artificial (mechanical):

• Natural valves are from human donors (cadavers).
• Modified natural valves come from animal donors (porcine valves are from pigs, bovine are from cows) and are placed in synthetic rings.
• Artificial valves are made of metal.

Natural valves rarely require life-long medication to prevent blood clot formation (anticoagulation), whereas artificial valves will require anticoagulation.