Risks

Mitral valve repair and mitral valve replacement surgery can involve risks including:

• Bleeding
• Blood clots
• Valve dysfunction in replacement valves
• Heart rhythm problems
• Infection
• Stroke
• Death

How you prepare

Before surgery to have your mitral valve repaired or replaced, your doctor and treatment team will explain to you what to expect before, during and after the surgery and potential risks of the surgery.

Your doctor and team will discuss concerns you may have about your mitral valve repair or mitral valve replacement surgery. Discuss with your doctor and treatment team any questions you may have about the procedure.

You'll need to have your hair shaved off at the location of your body where the procedure will take place.

Before being admitted to the hospital for your surgery, talk to your family about your hospital stay and discuss help you may need when you return home. Your doctor and treatment team may give you specific instructions to follow during your recovery when you return home.

Food and medications

Talk to your doctor about:

• When you can take your regular medications and whether you can take them before your surgery
• When you should stop eating or drinking the night before the surgery

Clothing and personal items

Your treatment team may recommend that you bring several items to the hospital including:

• A list of your medications
• Eyeglasses, hearing aids or dentures
• Personal care items, such as a brush, comb, toothbrush and shaving equipment
• Loosefitting, comfortable clothing
• A copy of your advance directive
• Items that may help you relax, such as portable music players or books

During surgery, avoid wearing:

• Jewelry
• Eyeglasses
• Contact lenses
• Dentures
• Nail polish

Precautions regarding medications and allergies

Talk to your doctor about:

• Any medications you have brought to the hospital and when you should take medications on the day of the procedure
• Allergies or reactions you have had to medications

Results

After mitral valve repair or mitral valve replacement surgery, you may be able to return to daily activities, such as working, driving and exercise. Your doctor will discuss with you when you can return to activities. You'll generally still need to take certain medications.

You'll need to attend regular follow-up appointments with your doctor. You may have several tests to evaluate and monitor your condition.

Your doctor may instruct you to incorporate healthy lifestyle changes — such as physical activity, a healthy diet, stress management and avoiding tobacco use — into your life.

Your doctor may recommend that you participate in cardiac rehabilitation — a program of education and exercise designed to help you improve your health and help you recover after heart surgery.

Overview

An annuloplasty is a surgery to tighten, reshape or strengthen the ring around a heart valve. Surgeons may do this during other treatments to repair a heart valve.

Why it's done

A surgeon does an annuloplasty to reshape, strengthen or tighten the ring around a damaged or diseased heart valve.

The ring around a valve in the heart is called the annulus. It can widen and change from its usual shape. The shape change may prevent the valve's flaps from opening and closing as they should. So blood can leak backward through the valve. This is a condition called valve regurgitation. A heart that is larger than usual or a leaky heart valve may cause the annulus to change shape.

A surgeon may do an annuloplasty to fix the valve. Other surgeries to repair a heart valve may be done at the same time.

What you can expect

In an annuloplasty, the heart surgeon measures the size of the existing ring around the valve. Then the surgeon sews a band to the existing ring. The band may be rigid or flexible.

A surgeon can do an annuloplasty during open-heart surgery. Or a surgeon can do an annuloplasty with minimally invasive heart surgery, which involves smaller cuts. With either method, your surgery team gives you a mix of medicines to put you in a sleeplike state. The medicines are called general anesthetics.

Researchers are studying less invasive ways to do annuloplasty and other heart valve treatments using long, thin tubes called catheters. These are called transcatheter treatments.