Comprehensive Heart Valve Repair Program - Treatment and Management of Heart Valve Disease - Surgical Procedures - New York - Montefiore Medical Center

The quality of care and diversity of surgical options available at Montefiore's Comprehensive Heart Valve Repair Program have positioned it as a national leader in the treatment of complex valve disease. Heart Valve Repair Program surgeons offer a full host of minimally invasive and open surgical procedures for the treatment of valve disease, including robotic-assisted mitral valve surgery and valve-sparing aortic root replacement for Marfan patients. The Program's robust research arm, which is supported by the National Institutes of Health's National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, furthers its surgical mission by developing and delivering novel treatment options for patients with valve disease.

Highlights of the surgical program include:

Patient outcomes that exceed the national average.
Risk-adjusted operative mortality rates for mitral valve repair and replacement that are among the lowest in the nation.
Highly experienced specialists skilled in the treatment of patients with both complex valve disease and comorbidities.
A robust robotics program that is among the busiest in the state.
An imaging program that is one of the largest in New York City and provides accurate, completely electronic reports in less than 24 hours in more than 98 percent of cases.
Surgeons and cardiologists who collaborate to evaluate and care for patients.
Use of the "Einstein" repair, in which artificial chord implantation is used for mitral valve repair.
A research program focused aggressively on studying and testing the latest treatments and devices for the care of valve disease.

Leading the Way in Minimally Invasive Valve Surgery

Minimally invasive valve surgery offers a distinct advantage to patients requiring valve repair or replacement. At Montefiore, surgeons excel in the use of these approaches, which include endoscopic and robotic-assisted surgery. All patients presenting with valve disease are thoroughly evaluated by senior members of the Heart Valve Repair Program's cardiac surgical team to determine their eligibility for this approach.

Benefits of minimally invasive valve surgery include:

Less blood loss and need for blood transfusions
Smaller incisions and less scarring
Reduced pain
Faster recovery
Shorter return to normal activity

Prior to minimally invasive valve surgery, the patient receives general anesthesia. Depending upon the approach being used, the surgeon will then make one to four small incisions or holes in the patient's chest. These serve as access points for the surgical instruments and cameras required for minimally invasive valve repairs or replacements.

The Heart Valve Repair Program offers the following minimally invasive procedures:

Experts in Open Heart Valve Surgery

The standard of care for many years, open-heart valve surgery is an alternative for patients whose physical condition precludes them from minimally invasive approaches. Surgeons at Montefiore have extensive experience with open-heart valve surgery and use it for both the repair and replacement of diseased valves. When a patient's condition requires both open-heart valve surgery and a second procedure, such as coronary bypass surgery or valve-sparing aortic root replacement, Montefiore surgeons can perform these simultaneously. This approach reduces the patient's recovery time and risk by avoiding a second surgery.

The Heart Valve Repair Program offers the following open-heart procedures:

Heart (Cardiology & Vascular)