Heart valve surgery has actually become a very common practice, and may be necessary for a variety of reasons. There are several things that can cause problems with your heart valves that can lead to heart valve surgery. Things that lead to the failure of a heart valve include mild defects at birth, diseases like rheumatic fever or bacterial infections may scar or destroy the valve, and aging and normal wear and tear of tissues will weaken or harden heart valves.
Depending on the damage, heart valves may either be repaired or replaced. Sometimes the surgeon can restore the valve to function normally by remodeling the tissue (removing stretched tissue or sewing the edges). Heart valves that are seriously deformed or degenerated cannot be repaired. The old valve is removed and replaced with a new valve mechanism. A new valve is attached by sewing it to a rim of tissue kept from the original valve. The replacement heart valves are either natural (biologic) or artificial (mechanical). Natural valves are from human donors (cadavers), modified natural valves are from animal donors (porcine: pigs), which are placed in synthetic rings, and artificial valves are made of metal or plastic. Natural valves rarely require life-long medication to prevent blood clot formation (anticoagulation), whereas artificial valves will require anticoagulation.
The surgery is done while the patient is asleep, and general anesthesia is used so it's pain-free. The surgery is open-heart surgery, and an incision is made through the breast bone (sternum). Tubes are used to re-route the blood away from the heart to a heart-lung bypass machine to keep the blood oxygenated and circulating while the heart is being operated on.
As in all major surgery, there are some risks, but heart valve surgery has an excellent success rate. There is a small risk of stroke, bleeding, infection, heart attack, kidney failure and death, but your surgeon should be aware of your risks before the surgery after carefully reviewing your medical history.
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