Choosing the best mitral valve repair surgery
If you decide on surgery to repair your mitral valve stenosis, you and your doctor will need to select either a balloon valvotomy or a mitral commissurotomy. In spite of similar success rates, a balloon valvotomy is generally preferred to mitral commissurotomy as long as the doctor is experienced with the procedure.
Balloon valvotomy is catheter-based, not surgical, and has a lower risk of complications and death than mitral commissurotomy. But a balloon valvotomy performed by an inexperienced cardiologist has approximately the same percentage of negative outcomes as that seen with a commissurotomy. Therefore, it is imperative that you have your balloon valvotomy performed at a medical center that routinely performs a large number of these procedures.
Both procedures have risks, although they are rare. Most commonly, "cracking open" valve leaflets will cause the valve to begin to leak, causing mitral regurgitation. There is also a slight chance that a blood clot will develop in your heart and cause a stroke. But the most common problem with both procedures is that they typically need to be repeated after 10 or 20 years because the valve becomes narrowed again. At this point, you may need a valve replacement due to damage done to the leaflets during the earlier operations.
| Author: | Robin Parks, MS | Last Updated: March 18, 2008 |
| Medical Review: | E. Gregory Thompson, MD - Internal Medicine Stephen Fort, MD, MRCP, FRCPC - Interventional Cardiology | |
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