Aortic Valve Surgery

Aortic valve stenosis refers to conditions where the aortic valve is narrowed because of calcification or thickening, and the leaflets are no longer able to open properly. The aortic valve is the heart valve most frequently operated upon. There can be many different reasons for such narrowing. These include age-related deterioration, congenital aortic valve stenosis resulting from having only two leaflets (bicuspid aortic valve stenosis), constriction caused by rheumatic fever, and inflammation (endocarditis).

• On the day of your admission to a general ward, you will be questioned in detail, your paperwork will be examined, and any outstanding tests will be conducted, e.g. blood tests, X-rays or ultrasound examinations.
• Once all of your paperwork and tests are complete, you will discuss the operation you require with the surgeon and the anaesthetist.
• The operation will take place the next day under general anaesthesia.
• The aortic valve is typically accessed by either partially opening the breastbone, or by making a small incision on the right-hand side of the chest. You will then be connected to the heart-lung machine, and your heart stopped.
• Then the damaged aortic valve will be removed and a new heart valve sutured into place. Once the valve has been tested to ensure it is functioning well, the heart-lung machine is disconnected and the skin carefully closed.
• When the anaesthetic wears off, you will wake up in the recovery room. For the next 24 hours you will be monitored in our intermediate care ward, before being transferred to the general ward. You will normally spend between five and seven days in Hospital.

A patient-friendly, minimally invasive procedure will normally be used for your aortic valve operation at the Heart Centre in Leipzig. Only rarely, or if additional heart surgery is required (e.g. a bypass operation), will it be necessary for you to undergo a conventional heart operation which involves opening the breastbone. Older patients or those at high risk from surgery can be treated using a catheter-based aortic valve replacement procedure (TAVI).

Aortic valve insufficiency describes the situation where the three leaflets are no longer able to close properly, and blood flows back from the aorta to the left ventricle after each beat of the heart.

It is often possible to repair the leaflets (aortic valve reconstruction). In rare cases, the aortic valve must be replaced by a biological or mechanical substitute (cf. Aortic valve replacement). If aortic valve insufficiency is diagnosed and surgery recommended, we conduct another detailed examination using ultrasound or TEE. An assessment will then be made of whether or not the aortic valve can be repaired (aortic valve reconstruction). After conducting a number of tests and talking to the individual patient, the surgeon will decide which repair method to use. Only the most advanced procedures are used at Leipzig Heart Center.

• On the day of your admission to a general ward, you will be questioned in detail, your paperwork will be examined, and any outstanding tests will be conducted, e.g. blood tests, X-rays or ultrasound examinations. Once all of your paperwork and tests are complete, you will discuss the operation you require with the surgeon and the anaesthetist.
• The operation will take place the next day under general anaesthesia. The aortic valve is typically accessed by opening the breastbone. You will then be connected to the heart-lung machine, and your heart stopped.
• Then the aortic valve will be examined. Various suturing techniques or synthetic prostheses will be used to move the aortic valve to its correct functional position. Once the valve has been tested to ensure it is functioning well, the heart-lung machine is disconnected and the skin carefully closed.
• When the anaesthetic wears off, you will wake up in the recovery room. For the next 24 hours you will be monitored in our intermediate care ward, before being transferred to the general ward.
• You will normally spend seven days in hospital.