Percutaneous balloon valvuloplasty is a minimally invasive method to repair the valves. It improves blood flow through the heart and provides relief from the symptoms of a stenotic valve, which include:
- Chest pain
- Dizziness
- Breathing difficulty
- Palpitations (sensation of a racing or pounding heartbeat)
- Fainting
- Pale or bluish skin
- Swelling of the feet, ankles, or abdomen
- Rapid weight gain due to fluid retention
Timely surgery will prevent the occurrence of the complications due to valve stenosis, such as:
- Abnormal heart rhythm
- Heart attack
- Embolism (a traveling blood clot)
- Heart failure
- Lung conditions due to the backflow of blood from the heart.
- High blood pressure
- Endocarditis (Infections of the heart)
- Stroke
- Contrast dye allergy
- Ventricular rupture
What is percutaneous balloon valvuloplasty?
The heart has four chambers, the upper two are called atria and the lower two chambers are called ventricles. The flow of blood into and from the heart and from the atria to the ventricles is guarded by four valves.
- Tricuspid valve is located between the right atrium and the right ventricle.
- Pulmonary valve is located between the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery (the blood vessel that carries blood from the heart to the lungs).
- Mitral valve is located between the left atrium and the left ventricle.
- Aortic valve is located between the left ventricle and the aorta (the blood vessel that carries oxygenated blood from the heart).
These valves ensure an adequate flow of blood in a single direction and prevent any backflow. In some diseases, a valve may become abnormally stiff and narrow (stenosed valve). This will hamper an adequate blood flow from the heart to other body parts. The heart must work harder to pump blood and eventually grows weak. This may produce several complications depending on the extent of stenosis.
Percutaneous balloon valvuloplasty is a surgical procedure to repair a stenotic heart valve. In this procedure, one or more large balloons are inserted through the skin (percutaneously) and then inflated across a stenotic valve to decrease the extent of narrowing/obstruction.
What happens during a percutaneous balloon valvuloplasty?
During a percutaneous balloon valvuloplasty:
- The anesthesiologist gives a local anesthetic injection at the site of catheter insertion.
- They administer intravenous sedative medicines to help you relax before the procedure.
- The surgeon identifies the site of catheter insertion just above the blood vessel in the groin.
- They insert a device called introducer into the vessel. This device helps with the introduction of the catheter through the vessel into the heart.
- After catheterization, the surgeon begins injecting contrast dye from the intravenous line to check the exact place of catheter and valve.
- After the catheter reaches the required position, the surgeon inflates the balloon. This forces the stenotic valve leaflets to open.
- The inflated balloon relieves the stenosis by breaking the hard deposits within the valve leaflets.
- The surgeon deflates the balloon and removes the catheter.
What are the risks of a percutaneous balloon valvuloplasty surgery?
The complications of percutaneous balloon valvuloplasty include:
- Bleeding
- Embolus (blood clot, which may travel to lung or other parts of the body)
- Blood vessel injury
- Infection
- Abnormal heart rhythm
- Kidney failure
- Stroke
- New or worsening of an existing valve regurgitation (leakage)
- Valve rupture
SLIDESHOW
The 14 Most Common Causes of Fatigue See Slideshowhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519532/
Top Benefits of Percutaneous Balloon Valvuloplasty Related Articles
Heart Healthy Diet: 25 Foods You Should Eat
What foods are heart healthy? Learn what foods help protect your cardiovascular system from heart attack, coronary heart disease, stroke, and cardiovascular disease. Plus, find easy meal recipes and menu ideas for more everyday heart benefit.
Aortic Valve Stenosis (AVS): Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment Options
Aortic valve stenosis is an abnormal narrowing of the aortic valve of the heart. The causes of aortic stenosis are wear and tear of the valve in the elderly, congenital, or scarring or scarring of the aortic valve from rheumatic fever. Symptoms include angina, fainting, and shortness of breath. Treatment is dependant upon the severity of the condition.
Common Medical Abbreviations & Terms
Doctors, pharmacists, and other health-care professionals use abbreviations, acronyms, and other terminology for instructions and information in regard to a patient's health condition, prescription drugs they are to take, or medical procedures that have been ordered. There is no approved this list of common medical abbreviations, acronyms, and terminology used by doctors and other health- care professionals. You can use this list of medical abbreviations and acronyms written by our doctors the next time you can't understand what is on your prescription package, blood test results, or medical procedure orders. Examples include:
- ANED: Alive no evidence of disease. The patient arrived in the ER alive with no evidence of disease.
- ARF: Acute renal (kidney) failure
- cap: Capsule.
- CPAP: Continuous positive airway pressure. A treatment for sleep apnea.
- DJD: Degenerative joint disease. Another term for osteoarthritis.
- DM: Diabetes mellitus. Type 1 and type 2 diabetes
- HA: Headache
- IBD: Inflammatory bowel disease. A name for two disorders of the gastrointestinal (BI) tract, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis
- JT: Joint
- N/V: Nausea or vomiting.
- p.o.: By mouth. From the Latin terminology per os.
- q.i.d.: Four times daily. As in taking a medicine four times daily.
- RA: Rheumatoid arthritis
- SOB: Shortness of breath.
- T: Temperature. Temperature is recorded as part of the physical examination. It is one of the "vital signs."
Heart-Wise Dining
Explore 10 food swaps for heart-wise dining. Learn what food to buy and how to cook in order to make a big difference for your heart health.
Heart Detail Picture
The heart is composed of specialized cardiac muscle, and it is four-chambered, with a right atrium and ventricle, and an anatomically separate left atrium and ventricle. See a picture of Heart Detail and learn more about the health topic.
Mitral Valve Prolapse: Causes, Symptoms and Treatments
Mitral valve prolapse (MVP), also called "click murmur syndrome" and "Barlow's syndrome," is the most common type of heart valve abnormality. Usually, people with mitral valve prolapse have no signs and symptoms; however, if the prolapsed valve is severe, symptoms may appear. When symptoms of severe mitral valve prolapse do appear, they may include, fatigue, palpitations, chest pain, anxiety, migraine headaches, and pulmonary edema. Echocardiography is the most useful test for mitral valve prolapse. Most people with mitral valve prolapse need no treatment. However, if the valve prolapse is severe, treatment medications or surgery may be necessary to repair the heart valve.