Minimally invasive treatment to widen a narrow or stiff heart valve
Mitral valvuloplasty is a treatment that opens the mitral valve in patients with mitral stenosis, a condition that causes the valve to narrow or become stiff. The procedure restores normal blood flow and reduces pressure on the heart and lungs.
Our Structural Heart and Valvular Disease program offers this and other innovative minimally invasive treatment options for heart valve diseases such as mitral stenosis.
What to expect during mitral valvuloplasty
You’ll receive a sedative to help you relax, but you will remain awake during the procedure. The doctor will insert a thin, flexible tube known as a catheter into a blood vessel in the groin, which will be numbed by a local anesthetic. The catheter will contain a balloon at the tip. Your doctor will guide the catheter to the mitral valve and inject a dye to make it easier to see inside the valve.
When the balloon is inflated, you may feel some chest discomfort, but it should not be painful. The balloon may be inflated and deflated several times to fully open the valve. After the valve has been opened, the balloon is deflated, and the catheter is removed. The procedure lasts about an hour, and you may need to spend the night in the hospital.
Conditions
Mitral Stenosis
Mitral stenosis causes the mitral valve to become narrow and decrease blood flow through 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
Location: Change location Enter your location
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Thelma Dianne Aguilar, AGACNP
Cardiac Surgery
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Keki Balsara, MD
Cardiac Surgery
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Brian Thomas Bethea, MD
Cardiac Surgery
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Ashley Chenoweth, AGACNP-BC
Cardiac Surgery
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Jeffrey E. Cohen, MD
Cardiac Surgery
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John V Conte, MD
Cardiac Surgery
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Susan L. Davis, ACNP-BC
Cardiac Surgery
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Jonathan R. Gower, MD
Cardiothoracic Surgery
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Carolin Hanna, AGACNP-BC
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Rachel E Harrison, MD
Cardiac Surgery
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Maria Gina Heyrana
Cardiac Surgery
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Dureaden Khan, PA
Cardiac Surgery
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Thomas Edward MacGillivray, MD
Cardiac Surgery
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Stacey Elizabeth Miller, ANP-BC
Cardiac Surgery
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Susan Thornton Oyola, AGACNP-BC
Cardiac Surgery
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Elizabeth C. Sullivan, ANP-BC, CRNP
Cardiac Surgery
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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
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.