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 "atrialis", "fibrosa", and "spongiosa". Patients with classic mitral valve prolapse have excess connective tissue that thickens the spongiosa and separates collagen bundles in the fibrosa. This is due to an excess of dermatan sulfate, a glycosaminoglycan. This weakens the leaflets and adjacent tissue, resulting in increased leaflet area and elongation of the chordae tendineae. Elongation of the chordae tendineae often causes rupture, commonly to the chordae attached to the posterior leaflet. Advanced lesions—also commonly involving the posterior leaflet—lead to leaflet folding, inversion, and displacement toward the left atrium. Echocardiography is the most useful method of diagnosing a prolapsed mitral valve.