What is balloon valvuloplasty?

Balloon valvuloplasty is a procedure in which the narrowed heart valve is stretched open without open-heart surgery. For select patients with aortic stenosis and for the majority of patients with pulmonic stenosis or mitral stenosis, valvuloplasty is a preferred alternative to open heart surgery.

During balloon valvuloplasty:

• a small incision is made in the skin and a catheter is inserted into an artery or vein in the leg using a local anesthetic and conscious sedation (relaxing medications).
• a balloon-tipped catheter is advanced into the heart and across the narrowed valve.
• when in place, the balloon is expanded to open the valve, resulting in improved blood flow across the diseased valve.

While individual circumstances vary, patients may be discharged as soon as the following day.

Balloon valvuloplasty is a non-surgical procedure performed in the cardiac catheterization laboratory to treat mitral stenosis. Long, slender tubes called catheters are placed into blood vessels in the groin and guided into the chambers of the heart. A tiny hole is created in the wall between the upper two chambers of the heart. This hole provides an opening to access the left atrium with a special catheter that has a balloon at the tip. The catheter is positioned so the balloon tip is directly inside the narrowed valve. The balloon is inflated and deflated several times to widen the valve opening. Once the opening of the valve has been widened enough, the balloon is deflated and removed. During the procedure, an echocardiogram (ultrasound of the heart) may be performed to get a better picture of the mitral valve. (Also used to treat Aortic Stenosis)

Balloon valvuloplasty has become the standard treatment to relieve pulmonary valve stenosis, a condition in which the malformed pulmonary valve does not allow blood to flow freely from the heart to the lungs. Balloon valvuloplasty is performed by a pediatric interventional cardiologist – a heart doctor who has been trained to perform minimally invasive procedures using catheters (thin, flexible tubes that can be threaded into a blood vessel to the site of a heart defect or blockage). When performing balloon valvuloplasty, the interventional cardiologist inserts a balloon-tipped catheter through a tiny opening in the groin or neck, and guides it through the veins into the heart’s right side (the right ventricle). The catheter is carefully positioned inside the narrow opening of the pulmonary valve and the balloon is inflated. The expansion of the balloon stretches the valve open, forcing it to become wider so more blood can flow through.

 

Balloon valvuloplasty works best if the narrowing (stenosis) is the result of fused valve flaps called leaflets. If the valve leaflets are thickened or there is narrowing of the artery above the pulmonary valve, open-heart surgery may lead to better results than balloon valvuloplasty.

 

Balloon valvuloplasty (also called valvulotomy or valvotomy) is a procedure that widens a heart valve that is narrowed. The cause of this narrowing in the aortic valve is aortic valve stenosis.

During this procedure, a thin flexible tube called a catheter is inserted through an artery in the groin or arm and threaded into the heart. When the tube reaches the narrowed heart valve, a balloon at the end of the tube is inflated. The balloon presses against the hardened (calcified) tissue and enlarges the valve opening.

During the procedure, you will be awake. But you will receive local anesthesia where the catheter is inserted as well as intravenous (IV) pain medicine along with a sedative to help you relax.