How Much Annual Heart Valve Surgery In The United States?

Tammy, from Florida, just wrote me a curious question that reads, “Hi Adam – You note that there are about 250,000 heart valve surgeries performed around the world each year. By chance, do you know how many heart valve surgeries are performed in the United States each year?”

It’s an interesting question – especially for those of us in the US. While I have seen many different estimates, I typically rely on projections from the American Heart Association (AHA) when discussing the annual number of heart valve surgery operations performed each year.

That said, according to the AHA’s recent update, 95,000 patients underwent heart valve surgery in U.S. hospitals during 2003.

Considering that it is now 5 years since that study, I imagine the number of heart valve surgeries in the United States has increased. The key reason for that thought is the aging of the United States population. As you may know, there are over 75 million baby boomers that are reaching an age that is very common among heart valve repair and heart valve replacement patients.

I hope this helps shed some light on the annual number of heart valve surgeries in the United States each year.

Keep on tickin!