Valvular Heart Disease
The heart has four valves which help control the flow of blood between its four chambers. Valvular heart disease occurs when there is an abnormality such narrowing or leakage of the valves.
There are various treatment for valvular heart disease including medical therapy or surgical repair or replacement of the affected heart valve.
Transcatheter valve procedures are new techniques for the treatment of valvular heart disease without the need for open heart surgery. Such procedures include TAVI (Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation) for patients with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis who are considered too high risk for conventional aortic valve replacement because of their co-morbidities. The Mitraclip procedure is used for patients with symptomatic significant mitral regurgitation. These minimally invasive techniques are performed in the cardiology catheter laboratory (rather than in the cardiothoracic theatre) without the need for cardiopulmonary bypass surgery. They offer an alternative therapy in high risk patients who would otherwise have a poor prognosis without conventional surgery