Heart Valve Disease Services

Your heart health affects other aspects of your body. Because of this, you may need to see more than one doctor.

The UPMC Heart and Vascular Institute provides this complete heart valve care in one convenient place.

We combine nationally recognized experts across many specialties and the latest technology in one visit.

We've been part of the pivotal clinical trials in heart valve disease and bring that knowledge to you.

What Are Heart Valve Services?

Heart valve disease happens when one or more valves in the heart doesn't work right. This problem can emerge over time, or it can be a problem you're born with.

When a valve doesn't work, blood doesn't flow through your body as it should.

Two common ways a heart valve can fail are:

• Stenosis. This happens when something blocks blood from flowing properly through the valves. A valve may narrow, the flaps may not open the right way, or a defect may block normal blood flow.
• Regurgitation. This happens when the flaps on a heart valve don't close properly. Blood can then flow backward.

At UPMC, we approach heart valve problems with a team approach. Our experts span many specialties to provide complete care in one place.

What conditions do we treat?

There are many types of heart valve disease treated at UPMC.

Aortic valve disease

• Aortic stenosis.
• Aortic regurgitation.
• Bicuspid aortic valve.
• Rheumatic valve disease.

Mitral valve disease

• Mitral valve stenosis.
• Mitral valve prolapse.
• Mitral valve regurgitation.

Tricuspid valve disease

What Heart Valve Services Do We Offer?

Heart valve disease diagnostic services

The diagnosis process starts with a physical exam and your health and family history.

Your doctor will listen to your heart and lungs with a stethoscope.

You may also have some imaging tests.

Our center has advanced imaging tools and skilled experts to read them.

These tools include:

• Echocardiogram — Uses ultrasound waves to create images of your heart and valves.
• EKG — Measures your heart's electrical activity.
• Chest x-ray — Lets doctors see the size and shape of your heart.
• Heart catheterization — Allows your doctor to see blood flow through the heart and its arteries.
• MRI — Uses a magnetic field and radio waves to create images of your heart.
• CT scan — A 4-D heart CT that let's your doctor see your heart valves and how they work.

Heart valve disease treatment options

Treatment varies by person and symptoms.

Treatments we offer at the UPMC Center for Heart Valve Disease include:

• Medicine
• Valve repair
• Valve replacement

Our experts use minimally invasive techniques as well as open surgery.

UPMC was one of the first to do transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). TAVR is a minimally invasive, catheter-based treatment for aortic valve stenosis.

The UPMC Heart and Vascular Institute is the only hospital in western Pa. to offer the Ozaki procedure for aortic valve replacement. Led by Danny Chu, MD, our team of experts use an innovative surgical technique to replace your diseased aortic valve using your existing tissue. We perform the highest volume of adult Ozaki procedures in the U.S. and offer this specialized technique to patients diagnosed with:

• Aortic valve stenosis.
• Aortic valve regurgitation.
• Bicuspid aortic valve.

Why Choose UPMC for Heart Valve Disease Services?

Our center aims to provide you with world-class experts, diagnostics, and treatment in one convenient location.

We regularly research heart valve disease. This means you have access to technology or treatments other centers don't have.

The UPMC Center for Heart Valve Disease participates in a number of clinical trials designed to increase patient access to medical therapies. UPMC is currently enrolling in the following heart valve disease focused trials:

• APOLLO: Transcatheter Mitral Valve Replacement with the Medtronic Intrepid™ TMVR System in patients with severe symptomatic mitral regurgitation
• REPAIR MR: Percutaneous MitraClip Device or Surgical Mitral Valve Repair in Patients With Primary Mitral Regurgitation who are Candidates for Surgery 

In addition, UPMC has a long history of participating in groundbreaking, historic research centered around extending access to TAVR across different patient populations.

By UPMC Editorial Staff. Last reviewed on 2024-10-01.