Structural Heart and Valve Program
When it comes to your heart, you deserve the most advanced and effective care to ensure the best outcomes and quality of life. At Saint Agnes, we’re proud to offer a variety of minimally invasive structural heart and valve procedures performed by our award-winning physicians and heart experts.
What is Structural Heart and Valve Disease?
Just like the name says, structural heart and valve diseases are abnormalities of the heart muscle or valves that cause a range of health problems. These conditions can be congenital (present at birth) or develop over time.
When the heart and valves do not work properly, blood flow to the rest of the body can get interrupted, reduced, or in some cases flow the wrong direction. Thankfully, medical advancements and the use of catheter-based procedures make it possible to treat structural heart and valve conditions, including by not limited to:
- Severe aortic stenosis: A narrowing of the opening of the aortic valve
- Mitral valve stenosis: A narrowing of the mitral valve
- Mitral valve regurgitation: When blood leaks backward due to the mitral valve not closing properly
- Paravalvular leak: A leak that occurs around an artificial valve that has already been replaced
- Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: Heart muscle disease that causes thickening of the heart muscle and can lead to shortness of breath, arrhythmia and heart failure
- Atrial septal defect (ASD) and patent foremen ovale (PFO): Holes in the heart’s walls
- Left atrial appendage (LAA) closure: When blood collects in the LAA, forming clots and increasing the risk of stroke for people with AFib
Structural Heart and Valve Treatments
If you have been or become diagnosed with a structural heart or valve condition, our care team will work with you to discuss treatment options and develop an individualized care plan.
Should you require a surgical treatment, rest assured knowing that Saint Agnes utilizes the most advanced technology and procedural methods available. Plus, most structural heart and valve procedures are minimally invasive, which means you’ll have a faster recovery, less pain and fewer side effects than a traditional heart procedure.