Mortality Rates For Mitral Valve Repair
Written By: Adam Pick, Patient Advocate, Author & Website Founder
Page Last Updated: May 6, 2025
One of the big questions that patients have specific to mitral valve repair surgery is, "What are the mortality rates?"
It's a great question and I personally remember thinking the exact same thing when I was getting ready for my heart valve surgery.
You should know that as medical technology, physician education and surgical techniques have advanced over the years, the mortality rate for mitral valve repair surgery has steadily declined.
To better understand mitral valve repair mortality rates, I recently reviewed heart valve surgery data from several leading cardiac centers and associations in the United States.
Here are several mitral valve repair mortality rates to consider:
- The Society of Thoracic Surgeons suggests the current mortality rate for mitral valve repair is 1.5% compared to 5.5% for mitral valve replacement.
- Dr. Marc Gillinov, the Chairman of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic, and his colleagues report just 3 deaths in 1,072 procedure performed at the Cleveland Clinic over a 12-year period.
- Dr. Patrick McCarthy, the Executive Director of the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, reports a 0.4% mortality rate for isolated mitral valve repair surgeries in 2020.
- Dr. Luis Castro, a leading cardiac surgeon at MarinHealth Heart and Vascular Institute in Marin County, California, has had only 1 death during his last 1,400 mitral valve repair operations.
I hope the information above helped you learn more about the mortality rates of mitral valve repair surgery.
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