Mitral Valve Repair

[SoulSprout]

hi everyone. I’m now officially on the NHS waiting list for mitral valve surgery. My surgeon says the intention is to repair it. I’ve been under the impression(as told by my cardiologist) that it would be OHS. Yesterday I saw the doctor at the hospital but the surgeon was unavailable. But he called me today to explain that it’s possible he might be able to repair the valve using a keyhole technique.

injust wondered if anyone has had a minimally invasive procedure like this for something similar or just any thoughts you’d have from already having gone through surgery. I would naturally be thrilled if this could be the case. OHS seems much more common. They said because I’m young(ish) they tend to go for a repair first (although they’ll open me up and replace it if necessary)

Thanks

[Art-99]

As I understand it a repair or replacement can be done via keyhole surgery so of course recovery time would be much quicker. I believe Mick Jagger had a heart valve replaced using keyhole. Good luck hope you don't have to wait too long.

[DinoCat in reply to Art-99]

I believe Jagger had a TAVI procedure whereby a new valve is inserted via the femoral artery. But if patients are well enough to tolerate conventional valve surgery, surgeons still often prefer that option, which can be by OHS or a minimally invasive procedure.

[SoulSprout in reply to DinoCat]

I did think that it was unusual to be offered keyhole surgery, and was surprised I didnt think I'd be offered it for this reason. Although the surgeon seemed pretty keen going out of his was to call me the day after my discussion with the doctor at his clinic.

[aromariot]

I'm in a similar situation: young(ish) and on the NHS waiting list for mitral valve surgery. As Art-99 said, both repairs and replacements can be done by either OHS or keyhole (aka minimally invasive) surgery. But as you say, OHS is more common and the keyhole option isn't available in all NHS Trusts. The recovery time is much shorter for keyhole compared to OHS, and the scar is much smaller. So I'm waiting for my region to start offering the minimally invasive procedure, which they say they're going to do this year. If your region doesn't offer it yet, you can ask your cardio if you can be referred to a hospital that does offer it. But bear in mind that you'll have to travel there for several pre-op tests as well as the operation itself, so it's best to find one close to you.

[SoulSprout in reply to aromariot]

Thanks for your input. I guess I must be pretty fortunate to have this offered to me.

[Oatybiscuits]

my husband had mitral valve surgery 4 yrs ago

They were expecting to do sternotomy (OHS) but did portal access instead ( think that’s what it was called) he had an incision on right hand of chest and they went behind his ribs to get to his heart and performed a big repair - small incision in groin and I think arm.

4 yrs on you can’t tell he had heart surgery

[SoulSprout in reply to Oatybiscuits]

I'm glad that it worked out so well for your husband. Thanks for sharing. I can only hope for the same outcome! All the best for the future

[Claire_42]

My partner (50yrs) had mitral valve repair via OHS at Papworth in January 2024, he was hopeful of keyhole surgery but his surgeon decided on OH and was able to repair the valve, and also repair a hole in his heart as well so thankfully it worked out that way. He took the full 3 months to recover but now a year on he's doing really well. There's lots of info and advice on here about the various types of procedures - I wish you well on your journey.

[SoulSprout in reply to Claire_42]

Hi Claire, glad to hear your husband continues to recover well and hope it continues. Thanks for sharing this and all the best to you both in the future.

[OK10]

Hi. What i heard is that nowadays because of technology they can replace/repair a single valve or a single artery using a keyhole surgery.If they can do it that way recovery time will be a lot shorter with less time.

[SoulSprout in reply to OK10]

Sounds like it would be a dream come true compared to OHS

[OK10]

Sorry i meant to say less time and less pain.