Heart Valve Repair Surgery
Heart valve repair involves a surgical procedure to fix your own heart valve, as opposed to replacing it with a mechanical or tissue valve. Different techniques can be used to repair a heart valve depending upon the problem you have.
The Mayo Clinic suggests the objectives of heart valve repair are reshaping of the valve by removing excess valve tissue, adding support to the valve ring by adding tissue, or a collarlike structure around the base of the valve, and/or attaching the valve to nearby heart cordlike tissues (chordal transposition).
The advantages of heart valve repair are lower risk of infection, decreased need for life-long blood thinner medication, and preserved heart muscle strength.
An interesting note, the mitral valve is the most commonly repaired heart valve, but the aortic, pulmonary and tricuspid valves may also undergo some of these repair techniques.
Heart Valve Repair By Valvuloplasty
According to St. Jude Medical, Valvuloplasty is a technique aimed at making sure the flaps of the valves (or leaflets) close properly, preventing blood from backing up into the atrium. In the healthy heart, blood flows from the upper chamber (atrium) to the lower chamber (ventricle), and from the ventricle to the body. 
Commissurotomy is a special form of valvuloplasty. Commissurotomy is used when the leaflets of the valve become stiff and actually fuse together at the base, which is the ring portion (or annulus) of the valve. Sometimes a scalpel is used to cut the fused leaflets (commissures) near the ring, which may help them open and close better. In other cases, a balloon catheter, similar to a catheter used during angioplasty, is inserted into the valve. The balloon is inflated, splitting the commissures and freeing the leaflets to open and shut fully. Heart Valve Repair By Annuloplasty
Annuloplasty is a technique aimed at repairing the fibrous tissue at the base of the heart valve (the annulus). Sometimes, the annulus becomes enlarged, which enables blood to back up into the atrium. To repair this, sutures are sewn around the ring to make the opening smaller. This creates a purse string effect around the base of the valve and helps the leaflets meet again when the valve closes. 
Sometimes when repairing the annulus, it is necessary for the surgeon to implant an annuloplasty ring. A ring is used to correct a problem, provide support for the valve, and reinforce other repair techniques or any combination of these.
>> NEXT: To learn more about other heart valve repair procedures, including minimally invasive techniques, please click here.
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