What is "valve surgery", and when is it required to treat a heart condition?

What is "valve surgery", and when is it required to treat a heart condition?

Valve surgery is another kind of heart surgery that's done to correct a structural problem in the heart. So, as opposed to coronary surgery, where we're operating on the outside of the heart really, in valve surgery we are operating inside the blood vessels in the heart. You can see here the aortic valve. Blood is being pumped out through the aortic valve by this chamber when it squeezes. Blood comes into the heart through the mitral valve and either of these valves can become either too tight over time or can develop leaks. There are many reasons why they might do that. And, in some cases, a leaking valve can be repaired by valve surgery. And, if it can't be repaired, it can be replaced with valve surgery. Likewise a valve that is too tight or is leaking - more commonly the aortic valve gets too tight but both can have that happen - that valve can also be replaced with valve surgery if the function of the valve is interfering with the overall ability of the heart to pump blood out to the body where it is needed.