Dr. Vaughn Starnes: My Approach to Mitral Valve Surgery in 2020

For nearly 30 years, Dr. Vaughn Starnes, Surgeon-in-Chief of Keck Medicine at USC, has been treating mitral valve disease. In this video, Dr. Starnes explains many important details about mitral valve surgery including the different types of mitral valve disease, their symptoms, causes and risks. Dr. Starnes also shares his approach for using mitral valve repair techniques (e.g. mitral strings and support bands) along with helpful ideas for patients needing mitral valve replacement devices (mechanical and pig valves) due to mitral stenosis. Dr. Starnes also addresses the advantages of new, non-invasive transcatheter technologies for mitral valve reconstruction (e.g. MitraClip) and mitral valve replacement. As Dr. Starnes concludes this video, he offers valuable advice for patients with mitral valve disease. (Video posted on October 9, 2020)