Artificial Heart Valves

Artificial heart valves are often used to replace damaged heart valves in people with certain types of heart disease. There are many artificial heart valves to choose from, and The University of Kansas Health System offers all of today's most current heart valve replacement options. In fact, we offer more minimally invasive heart valve options than any other hospital in the Kansas City region.

For the appropriate patient, all of our artificial heart valves can be placed through a minimally invasive procedure. Our patients travel to Kansas City from across the region for today's most current artificial heart valve replacement options.

Heart valves control blood flow as blood leaves and enters the heart. When a natural valve stops functioning properly, an artificial valve can be surgically implanted to replace it. Valve replacement surgery is an alternative to valve repair surgery. The main advantage of using an artificial heart valve is that it’s unlikely to wear out during the recipient’s lifetime.

Artificial heart valves are beneficial for people who have a heart valve disorder or narrowing of the arteries, also known as aortic stenosis. If the diseased aortic valve can't be repaired through heart surgery, or if you are not a good candidate for surgery, a less invasive heart valve procedure may be recommended.

The human heart has 4 valves that control the direction that blood flows through the heart and body. During heart valve replacement surgery, your doctor will remove the faulty valve and replace it with an artificial valve. This new valve will act like your own – helping ensure proper blood flow throughout the body.

There are a few different types of replacement heart valves, including:

Although surgery has long been considered the gold standard for treating aortic stenosis, less invasive alternatives have shown equal or even better outcomes in people who are not able to receive surgery. Placing artificial heart valves through a minimally invasive procedure called transcatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR, is quickly becoming the treatment of choice in high-risk or inoperable patients with heart valve disease.

Through this approach, you'll enjoy several benefits, including:

• Faster recovery time
• Less time in the hospital
• Shorter, less visible incisions

Newer studies suggest that TAVR may be as effective as surgery in those who are low to moderate risk as well.

You will meet with both the cardiothoracic surgeon and the cardiologist in a single visit, and all necessary imaging and other tests are performed at 1 appointment. This streamlined process reduces the number of visits and is intended to benefit those traveling to our hospital for a consultation.

Your heart care team will evaluate your condition and determine whether or not aortic valve replacement with TAVR is right for you. If so, you will be scheduled for surgery.

During the heart valve replacement procedure, surgeons make a very small incision in either the chest, underarm or near the groin. The incision is just large enough to allow a thin, flexible tube (called a catheter) to be inserted into an artery. The catheter is then routed through the artery and up into the heart. The artificial heart valve is placed into position and expands, replacing the failed heart valve. Once in place, the device functions like a healthy valve.

You will be in the hospital for 2 to 5 days, rather than 10 days for traditional surgery. You will likely be placed on medications to control your pain and help prevent blood clots from forming. Your cardiologist may recommend a cardiac rehabilitation program to help you ease back into daily activities and speed recovery.

• Our heart specialists treat many patients who have been considered too high-risk by other cardiac care programs, yet our mortality rates are lower than expected.
• Our hospital was the first in Kansas City to perform complex heart valve procedures.
• Our Lynn H. Kindred, MD, Catheterization Lab offers all of today's most sophisticated minimally invasive valve options.
• Our physicians are at the forefront of the newest surgical, nonsurgical and minimally invasive techniques for heart care.
• We are able to deliver excellent outcomes by focusing on less invasive procedures, which require smaller incisions, fewer transfusions and result in lower complication rates.