- Emergency
- Coronary heart disease.
- Valvular heart disease.
- Aortic valves
- Diagnosis.
- Therapy
- Aortic valve reconstruction.
- Conventional and keyhole surgery.
- Catheter-assisted heart valve replacement.
- FAQ.
- Mitral valve disease.
- Valvular surgery case example.
- Aortic valves
- Diseases of the thoracic vessels.
- Arrhythmias.
- Transplantation.
Conventional and keyhole surgery
If the valve cannot be repaired, it must be replaced. Several alternatives are available today. Mechanical heart valves should last a lifetime but require lifelong anticoagulation with warfarin. Alternatively, biological heart valves can be used. These come from pigs or are made from bovine pericardium. These valves do not require any medications to be taken but have only limited durability. In isolated cases there is a third alternative: use of human heart valves. All of these operations can be performed minimally invasively through a small incision.
