Mitral valve replacement

Mitral valve replacement is a cardiac surgical procedure in which a patients diseased mitral valve is replaced by either a mechanical or bioprosthetic valve. Mitral valve replacement is performed when the valve becomes too tight commonly known as mitral valve stenosis for blood to flow into the left ventricle, or too loose commonly called as mitral valve regurgitation in which case blood can leak back into the left atrium and thereby back into the lung.  Mitral valve disease can occur from infection, calcification, inherited collagen disease, or many other causes. Since a mitral valve replacement is an open heart surgical procedure, there is an requirement of placing the patient on cardiopulmonary bypass.

Risk:

·         Bleeding

·         Infection

·         Reaction to anesthesia

Usually risks depend on patients age, gender and general, specific heart function condition.

There are two primary types of artificial mitral valves

·         Mechanical valves: The mechanical valves are made from metal and pyrolytic carbon, and can last a lifetime.

·         Bioprosthetic tissue valve: Bioprosthetic valves are made from animal tissues. This is also called as biological valve.

Cardiology research Journals like Clinical Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine (CCCM) provides a global open access platform to put forth the ongoing research, reviews articles related to Mitral valve replacement and its techniques.