Minimally Invasive Repair for Mitral Valve Disease

At NYU Langone’s Heart Valve Center, doctors from our Mitral Valve Repair Program are internationally recognized for their expertise in the use of minimally invasive repair techniques for people with complex forms of mitral valve disease.

Surgical teams at NYU Langone have developed advanced heart valve repair techniques that have been taught to hundreds of other surgeons from around the world. Complex repairs often require a minimally invasive approach, and our success rate is nearly 100 percent.

Mitral valve repair surgery is performed using an annuloplasty, in which a synthetic band or ring is sewn around the mitral valve housing to restore it to its typical shape and size. Cardiothoracic surgeons are often able to perform annuloplasty using minimally invasive techniques that involve small incisions on the right side of the chest, either above or below the breast. The surgeon then inserts specially designed surgical instruments directly through the small chest incision to access the heart and repair the valve.

Minimally invasive mitral valve repair requires general anesthesia and a heart–lung bypass machine, which performs the work of these organs during the procedure. You may spend three to four days in the hospital and then recover for a few weeks at home.

This procedure typically results in less blood loss, less postoperative pain, less scarring, a shorter hospital stay, and a shorter recovery time than traditional open heart surgery that is performed through a sternotomy approach