The standard approach for heart valve disease is open-heart surgery, which requires a chest wall incision, a weeklong hospitalization and a four- to six-week recovery. Soon, this may change with a new procedure called percutaneous heart valve repair and replacement.
The new surgical approach is a less invasive procedure performed under local anesthesia and is a breakthrough for patients who are not candidates for surgery. The procedure is a catheter-based (percutaneous) approach for replacing aortic heart valves -- a combination of a percutaneously delivered balloon-expandable stent technology integrated with a tissue heart valve.
Open heart surgery isn’t an option for many high-risk patients. It also doesn’t make sense for low-risk patients to take the risks of open-heart surgery. This new method will be an option for all patients with heart valve disease. Patients will come to the hospital in the morning and leave at the end of a day with just a Band-Aid in place.
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