Heart Valve Diseases

Our cardiac surgeons and cardiac interventionalists offer both surgical heart valve replacement and minimally invasive TAVR.

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Call us for more information or to schedule an appointment

855-400-6284

For people with heart valve disease, Memorial Cardiac and Vascular Institute offers comprehensive treatments. These treatments include heart valve replacement and transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), an alternative to surgery for certain patients.

Our cardiac expertise means we often are able to catch and treat heart valve disease early. At any stage of the disease, we provide high-quality, personalized care.

What Is Heart Valve Disease?

Your four heart valves (aortic, mitral, tricuspid and pulmonary) have specific functions they need to perform to keep blood flowing properly. Sometimes the valves don’t work as they should. Congenital heart disease, infections and risk factors such as age can all contribute to heart valve disease.

Common types of heart valve diseases include:

Aortic stenosis

Calcium deposits build up inside the aortic valve, causing it to narrow. The left ventricle has to work harder to push blood through the valve, which taxes the heart muscle.

Aortic regurgitation

This means the aortic valve leaks. A leaky valve makes the heart work harder.

Mitral stenosis

The mitral valve stiffens and doesn’t open all the way. Blood must move through a smaller opening, often causing a rapid heartbeat.

Mitral valve regurgitation

The mitral valve in the heart is leaky, which makes the heart work harder to pump blood.

Tricuspid regurgitation

The tricuspid valve leaks, allowing blood to flow backward. As with other kinds of leaky valves, it causes the heart to work harder.

Heart Valve Replacement Surgery - Memorial Cardiac & Vascular Institute

How Memorial Treats Heart Valve Diseases

We use a team approach to tackle heart valve disease, bringing together skilled cardiac specialists. When you choose Memorial to treat your heart valve problem, you are choosing a program with:

Dedicated heart valve clinic: We have dedicated resources for treating heart valve disease. We use advanced heart imaging to diagnose and evaluate your valve condition. The heart valve team meets weekly to discuss each case and determine which surgical, minimally invasive or nonsurgical treatment is best for you. The team includes all heart specialties involved: interventional cardiology, clinical cardiology, imaging cardiology, cardiac surgery and cardiac anesthesia.
Multiple ways to treat heart valve disease: We offer surgical and interventional (minimally invasive) treatments. Depending on their age, risk factors and severity of the problem, some patients need traditional heart surgery to replace their heart valve. Others may benefit from a minimally invasive valve replacement procedure called TAVR.
Strong TAVR program: TAVR (transcatheter aortic valve replacement) is growing in popularity. It’s a way to replace the aortic valve without surgery, which means quicker recovery and less risk of complications. Memorial performs about 80 TAVR procedures a year.
Only TPVR team in South Florida: Transcatheter pulmonary valve replacement (TPVR) is a minimally-invasive procedure using the FDA-approved Harmony TPV™ to replace a blocked or leaky pulmonary heart valve that has previously been repaired in pediatric and adult patients with congenital heart disease. This procedure can delay an additional open-heart surgery and most patients are able to make a quick recovery.

Call us for more information or to schedule an appointment

855-400-6284

Jan, being pushed in her wheelchair by her daughter

After Heart Valve Replacement, Jan’s Planning Her Golden Years

Jan's cardiologist at Memorial suspected something that tests weren't showing, which helped save her life. Jan received a TAVR transaortic valve replacement.

Read Jan's Story