When is aortic valve open

Blood flows out of your heart and into a large blood vessel called the aorta. The aortic valve separates the heart and aorta. The aortic valve opens so blood can flow out. It then closes to keep blood from returning to the heart. The aortic valve can also be replaced using minimally invasive aortic valve surgery. This is done using several small cuts. Before your surgery you will receive general anesthesia. You will be asleep and pain free. If your aortic valve is too damaged, you will need a new valve.

This is called replacement surgery. Your surgeon will remove your aortic valve and sew a new one into place. There are two main types of new valves:. You may need surgery if your aortic valve does not work properly. You may need open-heart valve surgery for these reasons:. You may be able to store blood in the blood bank for transfusions during and after your surgery. Ask your provider how you and your family members can donate blood. For the 1 week period before surgery, you may be asked to stop taking medicines that make it harder for your blood to clot.

These might cause increased bleeding during the surgery. Shower and wash your hair the day before your surgery. You may need to wash your whole body below your neck with a special soap. Scrub your chest 2 or 3 times with this soap. Expect to spend 4 to 7 days in the hospital after surgery. You will spend the first night in the ICU and may stay there for 1 to 2 days. There will be 2 to 3 tubes in your chest to drain fluid from around your heart.

These are usually removed 1 to 3 days after surgery. You may have a catheter flexible tube in your bladder to drain urine.

You may also have intravenous IV lines to deliver fluids. Nurses will closely watch monitors that display your vital signs your pulse, temperature, and breathing. You will be moved to a regular hospital room from the ICU. Your heart and vital signs will continue to be monitored until you go home. You will receive pain medicine to control pain around your surgical cut.

Your nurse will help you slowly resume some activity. You may begin a program to make your heart and body stronger. You may have a pacemaker placed in your heart if your heart rate becomes too slow after surgery. The heart then must pump harder to help move through the stenotic valves. All valves can experience stenosis. Regurgitation — When valves do not close all the way, blood can flow backward.

This is called regurgitation. Heart valve regurgitation and stenosis can occur together. When blood flow to and from and in the heart is affected, the heart can become weak and unable to pump blood effectively. Heart valve disease is one of the main causes of heart failure. It can also lead to dangerous and even deadly arrhythmias. The heart valves play a vital role in the function of the heart The heart has four heart valves — the aortic, mitral, pulmonary and tricuspid valves.

Valve disorders are categorized by the valve and by the type of dysfunction Stenosis — When valve openings are narrow or were not formed properly at birth, blood flow can be inhibited. Mitral valve stenosis Aortic valve stenosis Pulmonary valve stenosis Tricuspid valve stenosis Regurgitation — When valves do not close all the way, blood can flow backward.

The upper chambers — the right and left atria — receive incoming blood. The lower chambers — the right and left ventricles — pump blood out of your heart. The heart valves, which keep blood flowing in the right direction, are gates at the chamber openings for the tricuspid and mitral valves and exits for the pulmonary and aortic valves. Aortic valve repair and aortic valve replacement are procedures that treat diseases affecting the aortic valve, one of four valves that control blood flow through the heart.

The aortic valve helps keep blood flowing in the correct direction through the heart. It separates the heart's main pumping chamber left ventricle and the main artery that supplies oxygen-rich blood to your body aorta. With each contraction of the ventricle, the aortic valve opens and allows blood to flow from the left ventricle into the aorta. When the ventricle relaxes, the aortic valve closes to prevent blood from flowing backward into the ventricle.

When the aortic valve isn't working properly, it can interfere with blood flow and force the heart to work harder to send blood to the rest of your body. Aortic valve repair or aortic valve replacement can treat aortic valve disease and help restore normal blood flow, reduce symptoms, prolong life and help preserve the function of your heart muscle.

In aortic valve regurgitation, the aortic valve doesn't close properly, causing blood to leak backward into the left ventricle. Aortic valve stenosis causes a thickening and narrowing of the valve between the heart's main pumping chamber left ventricle and the body's main artery aorta. The narrowing creates a smaller opening for blood to pass through, reducing or blocking blood flow from the heart to the rest of the body.

Typically the aortic valve has three cusps tricuspid aortic valve , but some people are born with an aortic valve that has two cusps bicuspid aortic valve. Aortic valve disease treatment depends on the severity of your condition, whether you're experiencing signs and symptoms, and if your condition is getting worse. Types of aortic valve disease that may require treatment with aortic valve repair or replacement include:.

For some people with mild aortic valve disease without symptoms, careful monitoring under a doctor's supervision may be all that's needed. But in most cases, aortic valve disease and dysfunction get worse despite medical treatment. Most aortic valve conditions are mechanical problems that can't be successfully treated with medication alone. Such conditions eventually require surgery to reduce symptoms and your risk of complications, such as heart failure, heart attack, stroke or death due to sudden cardiac arrest.

In minimally invasive heart surgery, surgeons access the heart through small cuts incisions in the chest, as shown in the top two images. In open-heart surgery, surgeons make a larger incision in the chest, as shown in the bottom image. In general, heart valve repair is usually the first choice because it is associated with a lower risk of infection, preserves valve strength and function, and reduces the need to take blood-thinning medications for the rest of your life, which may be necessary with certain types of valve replacement.

For example, people with a hole in the valve's closure flaps perforated valve leaflet may be candidates for aortic valve repair rather than replacement, depending on the severity of their condition. However, most valves cannot be repaired, and heart valve repair surgery is often harder to do than valve replacement. Your best option will depend on your individual situation, as well as the expertise and experience of your health care team.

Aortic valve repair and aortic valve replacement may be done through traditional open-heart surgery, which involves a cut incision in the chest, or by using minimally invasive methods, which involve smaller incisions in the chest or a catheter inserted in the leg or chest transcatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR.

Minimally invasive heart surgery may involve a shorter hospital stay, quicker recovery and less pain than traditional open-heart surgery. What type of procedure you have depends on your individual situation, and your doctor will explain the benefits and risks of each option. For example, some people with aortic valve disease may not be candidates for traditional open-heart surgery due to other health problems, such as lung or kidney disease, that would make the procedure too risky.

Many people with aortic valve disease also have coronary artery disease and may need heart bypass surgery to improve blood flow. Heart bypass surgery is normally performed through traditional open-heart surgery, so your aortic valve procedure would be performed the same way.

Aortic valve repair and aortic valve replacement surgery risks vary depending on your health, the type of procedure and the expertise of your health care team. To minimize potential risk, aortic valve surgery should generally be performed at a center with a multidisciplinary heart team experienced in these procedures and that performs high volumes of aortic valve surgeries. Your Mayo Clinic treatment team will discuss any questions you might have about your aortic valve repair or aortic valve replacement procedure at Mayo Clinic.

Before surgery to have your aortic 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.

Before being admitted to the hospital for your surgery, talk to your caregivers about your hospital stay and discuss any help you may need when you return home. For most aortic valve repair and aortic valve replacement procedures, you'll receive anesthetics so you won't feel any pain, and you'll be unconscious during the surgery. You'll also be connected to a heart-lung bypass machine, which keeps blood moving through your body during the procedure. Aortic valve repair is usually performed through traditional open-heart surgery and opening of the chest bone sternotomy.

Doctors wire the bone back together after the procedure to prevent movement and aid in healing. Aortic valves that can't open fully due to aortic valve stenosis may be repaired with surgery or temporarily with a less invasive procedure called balloon valvuloplasty — which uses an approach called cardiac catheterization.

You're usually awake during cardiac catheterization. During balloon valvuloplasty, your doctor inserts a thin, hollow tube catheter in a blood vessel, usually in your groin, and threads it to your heart. The catheter has a balloon at its tip that can be inflated to help stretch the narrowed aortic valve and then deflated for removal. Balloon valvuloplasty is often used to treat infants and children with aortic valve stenosis.

However, the valve tends to narrow again in adults who have had the procedure, so it's usually only performed in adults who are too ill for surgery or who are waiting for a valve replacement. You may need additional procedures to treat the narrowed valve over time. Some replacement heart valves may begin to leak or not work as well over time. These issues can be fixed using surgery or a catheter procedure to perform aortic valve repair by inserting a plug or device to fix a leaking replacement heart valve.

In mechanical valve replacement, a mechanical valve replaces the damaged valve. In biological valve replacement, a valve made from cow, pig or human heart tissue replaces the damaged valve.