Which valve is which?

[offwego]

When we talk about valve repair or replacement where on the scale does the Mitral Valve fit in terms of the least or the most difficult to work on.

Which is the 'easiest' to replace or are the similar?

Stupid question. Sorry in advance!

 

[Adrienne]

The one thing I can tell you is that in the hands of a surgeon who has done lots of mitral valve repairs, about 90% of people that have to have MV surgery can have a repair.

This does not seem to be the case for the aortic valve, and I have no idea why.

As far as which one is easier to replace, I have no idea.

There are also the pulmonary and tricuspid valves on the right side of the heart, but they seem to cause less problems, so I don't know that much about those valves.

 

[Bridgette]

But some mitral valves aren't candidates for repair, even in the hands of the very best surgeon! They told me pre-op that, judging from the TOE (TEE) my valve had very little chance of being repaired and they were right.
Also, this would be Offwego's 2nd mitral valve surgery, and I'm no expert but it seems to me that a repair could be a lot harder second time round?
Still, I don't want to sound like a pessimist - maybe your surgeon will get in there and manage to do a successful repair if you have your heart (lol, pun!) set on it.

 

[westie]

almost

almost

.
i have the impression that mitral valve operations are substantially less common than aortic operations; maybe many mitral valves are repairable in the hands of experienced and highly skilled surgeons, but no one knows for sure what will happen untill the heart is opened up and all is revealed.

the surgeon told me mitral valve surgery was "the next best thing to a heart transplant!" heart by pass operations are simple by comparison

 

[Jkm7]

But some mitral valves aren't candidates for repair, even in the hands of the very best surgeon! They told me pre-op that, judging from the TOE (TEE) my valve had very little chance of being repaired and they were right.
Also, this would be Offwego's 2nd mitral valve surgery, and I'm no expert but it seems to me that a repair could be a lot harder second time round?
Still, I don't want to sound like a pessimist - maybe your surgeon will get in there and manage to do a successful repair if you have your heart (lol, pun!) set on it.

Bridgette...... same for me. My Mass General highly skilled, hugely experienced surgeon told me right from the start a repair was worth the try but don't count on it. He was right. As I wrote in another of 'way we go' threads, I was uneasy about a failed repair. This was my second OHS with this surgeon and trusted his judgement and skill and left the decision to him, of course. He did right by me, I'm sure. Some Mitral valves simply cannot be repaired. Mine was a mess!

 

[Gail in Ca]

When I recently had my 3rd surgery and read the summary of the surgeon about it, they repaired the mitral first, and then went about replacing the aortic with the valve/conduit. This was the more involved surgery, as the coronary arteries have to be cut then reattached.

 

[deano89]

i have been wondering the same things !

 

[jax]

i was told from the very beginning that my mitral valve would have to be replaced. it must have been in terrible shape if the repair never even came into the conversation. i know before they replaced that i wasn't definitely in terrible shape as far as how i was feeling.

 

[cp172]

My surgeon told me that there was only a 10% chance of a repair. Once he did the TEE he decided to use the DaVinci robot and do a repair which worked. In my case I had an extra chordea that was used to replace the bad one. I pray the repair lasts a long time.

 

[offwego]

Thanks for the responses. I had no idea where on the scale the Mital Valve surgery fits in terms of difficulty compared to the other valves.

I'm not racing off to have the surgery but do feel that I will need it sooner than later and might 'elect' or at least really look into this as soon as I can as I don't want to have to be faced with finding the surgeon and make choices under pressure as I did the first time.

 

[deano89]

. I had no idea where on the scale the Mital Valve surgery fits in terms of difficulty compared to the other valves.

thats what i wanted to know !