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Cardiac surgeons at �ٺ���Ƶ’s Mitral Valve Repair Program are leaders in treating mitral valve disease, a condition that can lead to shortness of breath, fatigue, and, if left untreated, heart failure.

Mitral valve repair reconstructs and reinforces existing parts of the valve so that they close properly. It is safer, has fewer complications, and lasts longer than mitral valve replacement with an artificial or donor valve, which can harden or wear out over time.

Leaders in Mitral Valve Repair

Our surgeons have a nearly 100 percent success rate in using robotically assisted and minimally invasive techniques to repair even the most complex mitral valves. This distinction has earned us recognition as a Mitral Valve Repair Reference Center from the American Heart Association and the Mitral Foundation.

Our doctors have performed more than 5,000 mitral valve repair procedures since our program began in 1980, making our surgeons among the most experienced and skilled in the world at mitral valve repair. Both robotically assisted and minimally invasive approaches allow for smaller incisions and a quicker recovery time.

People from around the country travel to �ٺ���Ƶ for minimally invasive and robotic mitral valve repair to treat complex conditions that are often deemed inoperable by other centers. Our long-term clinical follow-up studies have shown that our mitral valve repair techniques restore normal valve function and help our patients achieve lasting symptom relief.

As part of �ٺ���Ƶ’s Heart Valve Center, we also partner with interventional cardiologists at the Transcatheter Heart Valve Program, who provide mitral valve repair using MitraClip™. Your doctor helps you decide which mitral valve repair technique is the best treatment for your condition.

All of our procedures take place at Kimmel Pavilion, which features the latest surgical technology and single-bedded rooms.

Robotic Mitral Valve Repair

Our doctors are pioneers in robotically assisted mitral valve repair, which requires only five pencil-sized incisions placed between the ribs through the right chest wall. Using robotic instruments and a small camera, your surgeon directs the movements of a surgical robot inside the heart. This allows for a range of motion the human hand is incapable of performing. Our doctors have performed more than 1,000 of these procedures.

Robotically assisted mitral valve repair typically involves less blood loss, less pain after surgery, and less chance of infection, and it requires a shorter recovery time than traditional open heart surgery. Most people require only a two- to three-day stay in the hospital, followed by a few weeks of recovery at home.

Minimally Invasive Direct Vision Mitral Repair

Minimally invasive direct vision mitral valve repair techniques allow our cardiac surgeons to access the heart and valve with only a small incision on the right side of the chest. Miniature surgical tools provide light and magnification that allow the surgeon to repair the valve using direct vision, without the need for X-ray imaging.

Our surgeons have used this approach in more than 1,500 mitral valve repair procedures. The average hospital stay is three days, followed by a two- to three-week recovery at home. This technique yields excellent long-term results, with research showing that the repaired valve continues to function well up to 20 years after the initial surgery.