Surgery

You may need surgery to repair or replace your mitral valve if medicines don't control your symptoms or if your doctor thinks that you need more treatment.

Deciding whether you need surgery and if so, when, depends on the severity of your disease, the possibility that it will get worse, and the risks of surgery.

For more information about the decision to repair or replace a mitral valve, see Mitral Valve Stenosis: Repair or Replace the Valve?

Repair

You may have one of the following procedures to repair the valve:

• Balloon valvotomy: This procedure is the preferred treatment for mitral valve stenosis. A doctor uses a catheter and a tiny balloon to stretch open the narrowed valve. It is minimally invasive.
• Repair surgery (commissurotomy): This is typically an open-heart surgery using a heart-lung bypass machine. A surgeon removes calcium deposits and other scar tissue from the valve leaflets to widen the valve.

Replace

Mitral valve replacement surgery might be done if the valve is damaged beyond repair. This surgery is typically an open-heart surgery using a heart-lung bypass machine.

If you have valve replacement surgery, a mechanical or tissue valve will be used to replace your heart valve. Before you have surgery, you and your doctor will decide which type of valve is right for you. To help with this decision, see:

Heart Valve Problems: Should I Choose a Mechanical Valve or Tissue Valve to Replace My Heart Valve?