Heart Valve Disease Treatment

Emory Heart & Vascular is known across Georgia—and around the country—as a leader in valve disease care:

• In 2007, we were the first in Georgia to perform a transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). Since then, we’ve performed thousands of TAVR procedures with excellent outcomes.
• Emory Heart & Vascular experts helped pioneer robotic mitral valve surgery. This is a less-invasive treatment option for mitral valve disease. Although it is a safe, effective alternative to open heart surgery, few hospitals offer it because the learning curve is so steep. Our surgeons perform an average of 20 robotic mitral valve surgeries every month. This confirms we have some of the most experienced specialists in the country.
• Our surgeons were among the first in the region to offer transcatheter repair. The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approved this procedure in 2013. This procedure, known as mTEER, tTEER or transcatheter ege to edge repair, is a life-changing treatment option for some people with a leaky mitral valve who can’t have open heart surgery.

Nonsurgical therapies can help improve your symptoms and your heart function.

• Cardiac rehabilitation: This is a medically supervised program. It helps you strengthen your heart with personalized exercise plans and education.
• Lifestyle changes: Certain lifestyle changes can improve your overall heart health and prevent more valve problems. These include quitting smoking, eating a heart-healthy diet and exercising regularly.
• Medications: Some prescription medicines help prevent blood clots or lower your cholesterol or blood pressure and may be used in combination with other therapies. Others treat complications caused by heart valve disease, such as arrhythmia. 

There are several ways to access a faulty heart valve, and Emory Heart & Vascular offers them all:

• Traditional heart surgery: Open heart surgery is the most invasive approach. But it’s often the best option for younger patients. That’s because some valve replacements offer better long-term durability when performed using traditional techniques.
• Transcatheter procedures: These procedures are also known as “cardiac catheterization, “interventional” or “percutaneous” procedures. Instead of opening your chest, we guide catheters (tiny, flexible tubes) through your blood vessels to your heart. Transcatheter procedures can be considered as a treatment for many patients, including those for whom open-heart surgery is too risky.
• Minimally invasive heart surgery: There isn’t a transcatheter alternative for every type of heart valve surgery. However, we often can use other techniques that are less damaging to the body than open heart surgery. For example, instead of opening your chest, we may be able to access your valve through a small incision between two rib bones.

We offer procedures to fix every type of heart valve disease. With so many options, we can make sure your treatment offers the most benefit with the lowest risk.

Our areas of expertise include:

• Aortic valve repair and replacement: We offer every option for replacing or repairing the aortic valve. This includes transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). 
• Balloon valvuloplasty: This is a treatment option for narrowed heart valves. We inflate a special balloon inside the valve to widen it and improve blood flow.
• Mitral valve repair and replacement: We offer every available surgery for mitral valve disease. This includes transcatheter mitral valve replacement, robotic mitral valve surgery and MitraClip. MitraClip is a transcatheter procedure. We attach a tiny metal clip to your mitral valve to prevent it from leaking.
• Pulmonary valve repair or replacement: We offer traditional and minimally invasive options to treat all types of pulmonary valve disease. This includes pulmonary stenosis. 
• Robotic heart surgery: This is a type of minimally invasive surgery. It uses robotic technology to enhance your surgeon’s precision and dexterity.
• Tricuspid valve repair or replacement: We offer traditional and less-invasive options for tricuspid valve disease.

We also offer paravalvular leak closure for people whose previous heart valve replacement leaks blood. Although this complication is rare, it requires a complex repair. Our specialists are qualified to perform this procedure.