To Your Health: Minimally invasive options there for heart valve disease

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Symptoms of valvular disease can include a heart murmur, fatigue, shortness of breath, swelling, racing or irregular heartbeat, decrease in exercise tolerance and dizziness. These symptoms may develop suddenly or over a period of time depending on the type of disease. | File Photo

Updated: March 9, 2012 8:11AM

Heart disease is the leading cause of death and disability in the United States, taking the lives of more than 600,000 people annually.

To help in combating this disease, February has been designated as “Heart Month,” a time to actively raise awareness of heart disease, its symptoms, its treatment and its prevention.

When hearing about heart disease, many people think of coronary artery disease, or CAD, a process where the arteries that supply blood to the heart become blocked. While artery disease is the most familiar form of heart disease, diseases involving the heart’s valves are very prevalent and can be equally as dangerous.

The heart has four valves that function to keep blood flowing in a forward direction. Conditions such as rheumatic fever, infection, birth defects or aging may cause a valve to become dysfunctional and can disrupt the flow of blood through the inside of the heart. This type of heart disease typically requires surgery.

The great news is significant advances in technology have led to minimally invasive approaches for performing heart valve repairs and replacements.

According to the American Heart Association, approximately 5 million people are diagnosed with valvular heart disease annually and 200,000 people each year are in need of an intervention to repair or replace a valve.

Choosing the best treatment option can be overwhelming.

According to Dr. Antone Tatooles, cardiovascular surgeon at Advocate Christ Medical Center, “Valve disease is not the same in all patients and different treatments are right for different people.”

There are two types of valve dysfunction, valvular stenosis and valvular insufficiency.

Stenosis (narrowing) occurs when a valve opening is smaller and the heart has difficulty pumping blood through the valve.

Insufficiency or regurgitation (leaking) occurs when a heart valve fails to close properly and blood flows or leaks backward. The heart has to work harder to pump the blood effectively. Eventually the extra strain tires and weakens the heart, which then becomes inefficient at pumping blood.

Symptoms of valvular disease can include a heart murmur, fatigue, shortness of breath, swelling, racing or irregular heartbeat,
decrease in exercise tolerance and dizziness. These symptoms may develop suddenly or over a period of time depending on the type of disease. Valve disease symptoms can differ depending on which valve is affected and how severe the dysfunction has become. Valve disease can occur at any age, but if left untreated it can lead to heart failure and death.

In the past, valve surgery required an incision through the chest and sternum or breast bone to expose the heart. With the assistance of fiber-optic cameras and robotic equipment, specially trained heart surgeons are able to access the heart through a small incision made between the ribs with a length of 2 to 4 inches instead of a standard chest and sternal incision of 6 to 8 inches.

According to Tatooles, “The biggest advantage of using the minimally invasive surgical approach is a quicker recovery time. The minimally invasive approach leaves patients with a smaller incision, reduced length of stay in the hospital and less activity restrictions after surgery.”

Katherine T. Leslie is a member of the cardiac surgery team in the Heart & Vascular Institute at Advocate Christ Medical Center. She has been a practicing nurse for 32 years. Sheila B. McGreal also is a member of the cardiac surgery team at Christ. She has been a practicing nurse for 35 years.