Mitral Valve Disease Treatments | Types | MedStar Health

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Advanced options to improve function of the mitral valve

Treatments for mitral valve disease vary based on the type and severity of your disease. We bring together surgeons, interventional cardiologists, and imaging specialists to discuss and analyze each patient to determine the most effective treatment. If you need surgery, we offer minimally invasive techniques to repair damaged valves and have several options for replacement. Our Structural Heart and Valvular Disease Program performs more than 100 complex mitral valve surgical repairs each year.

Monitoring, medication, and lifestyle changes

If your condition and symptoms are mild, your doctor may recommend monitoring your valve function with regular testing. In some cases, blood thinners to reduce the risk of blood clots or medication to lower blood pressure can prevent complications and prevent your valve disease from worsening. Your doctor also may recommend making heart-healthy lifestyle changes, such as diet or exercise.

Surgery to repair or replace your mitral valve

Your doctor may recommend repairing or replacing your mitral valve if your condition is severe or causing symptoms that can’t be controlled by lifestyle changes or medication.

Options include:

  • Valve repair: Mitral valve repair is often the preferred method because it uses your own tissue and has a lower risk of complications. Valve repair may be able to patch a hole in the valve’s flaps or reshape the flaps to allow the valve to open and close more effectively.

  • Valve replacement: If your mitral valve can’t be repaired, it may be replaced with a biological valve (made from cow or pig tissue) or mechanical valve (made of plastic, carbon, or metal). Receiving a mechanical valve will require you to take blood thinners for the rest of your life to reduce the risk of bleeding and stroke.

Minimally invasive procedures to treat mitral valve disease

Some mitral valve procedures can be performed using minimally invasive techniques. These procedures may be performed through several small incisions in the chest or through a catheter.

Some minimally invasive mitral valve procedures we offer include:

  • MitraClip™: This catheter-based procedure uses a clip to fix a leaky mitral valve. This treatment may be recommended if you are too sick for surgery.

  • Mitral valvuloplasty: This catheter-based procedure uses an inflated balloon to reopen the valve and allows blood to flow more easily to the chambers of the heart, lungs, and rest of the body.

MedStar Health is also one of six centers nationwide studying the feasibility of using the Tendyne™ Mitral Valve System for the treatment of patients with severe mitral regurgitation. 

Conditions

Mitral Regurgitation

Mitral regurgitation occurs when the mitral valve allows blood to flow backward through the heart.

Mitral Stenosis

Mitral stenosis causes the mitral valve to become narrow and decreases blood flow through the heart.

Mitral Valve Disease

Disease of the mitral valve, which controls blood flow between the two left chambers of the the heart.

Mitral Valve Prolapse

Mitral valve prolapse causes the leaflets that form the mitral valve to bulge into the left atrium.

Tests

Cardiac Catheterization

Cardiac catheterization is a minimally invasive way to diagnose and treat a variety of heart and vascular conditions by guiding thin, flexible tubes called catheters through blood vessels to problem areas.

Chest X-ray

Chest X-rays use a small dose of radiation to create pictures of the structures inside the chest, including the lungs, heart and chest wall.

Computerized Tomography (CT) Scan

The cardiac computed tomography scan, or cardiac CT, uses X-rays to create three-dimensional images of your heart and blood vessels.

Echocardiogram

An echocardiogram uses high-frequency sound waves to create images of your heart.

Electrocardiogram (ECG)

An electrocardiogram, also known as an ECG, measures the heart’s electrical activity.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

Magnetic resonance imaging, better known as cardiac MRI, is a combination of radio waves, magnets and computer technology to create images of your heart and blood vessels.

Stress Tests

Stress tests are used to assess how your heart works during physical activity. There are several types of stress tests, including treadmill or bike stress tests, nuclear stress tests, stress echocardiograms and chemically induced stress tests.

Our providers

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Our locations

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MedStar Union Memorial Hospital

201 E. University Pkwy.
Baltimore, MD 21218

MedStar Washington Hospital Center

110 Irving St. NW
Washington, DC 20010

MedStar Georgetown University Hospital

3800 Reservoir Rd. NW
Washington, DC, 20007

MedStar Montgomery Medical Center

18101 Prince Philip Dr.
Olney, MD 20832

MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center

7503 Surratts Rd.
Clinton, MD 20735

Related services

Cardiology


Emergency Medicine


Mitral Valve Disease


Pharmacy


Primary Care


Ask MedStar Heart & Vascular Institute

Have general questions for our heart and vascular program? Email us at AskMHVI@medstar.net. If you have clinically-specific questions, please contact your physician’s office.