Many medical conditions can affect the valves in the heart. Sometimes these are progressive and over time they may lead to a severe deterioration in the function of the valve requiring surgical replacement or repair of the affected valve. These procedures are usually performed as ‘open-heart surgery’ and are very effective treatments, often resulting in a complete resolution of symptoms. There are several surgical approaches to replace or repair heart valves and these will be discussed with you. It is likely that you will need to have a cardiac catheter study performed prior to undertaking valve surgery. This will be performed personally by your Consultant Cardiologist and give more detailed information regarding the affected valve(s). It will also establish if you have any coronary artery disease which could be treated by bypassing at the same time as your valve surgery.

Your Cardiologist will discuss your heart valve surgery in detail with you following your cardiac investigations but the operation itself will need to be performed by a Consultant Cardiac Surgeon in London. Our Consultant Cardiologists work closely with a number of surgeons and will be able to recommend and refer you on to one of these highly experienced professionals. Your Cardiac Surgeon will arrange to meet you in his Consulting Rooms in London to discuss the procedure in more detail including recommending the most appropriate surgical technique to treat your condition.

Following your heart valve surgery we will contact you when you are discharged home to reassure you that we are available should you have any questions or concerns. You will normally see your Cardiac Surgeon for review in out-patients 6 weeks after your surgery. If he is happy with your progress he will then discharge you back into the care of your Consultant Cardiologist locally for your ongoing care. We will typically arrange an appointment for you to be seen by your Cardiologist to review your progress and also assess the medications that you are taking. If all is progressing well we would then plan to review you on an annual basis with an echocardiogram (heart scan) to assess the function of your new or repaired heart valve.