Heart valve repair Heart valve repair Heart valve repair is a surgical technique used to fix defects in heart valves in valvular heart diseases, and provides an alternative to valve replacement. Without further specification, it refers to native heart valve repair, rather than repair of an artificial heart valve. Valvuloplasty is the widening of a stenotic valve using a balloon catheter. Types include: Commissurotomy of cardiac valves is called "valvulotomy". "Mitral valve repair" is mainly used to treat stenosis (narrowing) or regurgitation (leakage) of the mitral valve. Aortic valve repair is a surgical procedure used to correct some aortic valve disorders as an
Mitral valve prolapse valve. The prevalence of MVP is estimated at 2–3% of the population. The condition was first described by John Brereton Barlow in 1966. In consequence, it may also be referred to as Barlow's syndrome, and was subsequently termed "mitral valve prolapse" by J. Michael Criley. Upon auscultation of an individual with mitral valve prolapse, a mid-systolic click, followed by a late systolic murmur heard best at the apex is common. The length of the murmur signifies the time period over which blood is leaking back into the left atrium, known as regurgitation. A murmur that lasts throughout the whole of