Some types of heart valve disease can be treated using modern catheter-based techniques. Offering a gentler alternative that does not cause as much trauma to the patient, these procedures can sometimes eliminate the need for open surgery altogether. Nowadays, catheter-based procedures are used particularly frequently in patients with valve disease affecting the left side of the heart (aortic and mitral valves). The procedure is similar to that of other catheter-based procedures, in that a catheter made of synthetic material is inserted via a blood vessel in the groin and advanced to the heart. Older patients in particular can benefit from this type of procedure, as it causes significantly less trauma to the patient. More

Once the heart valves have been damaged, they often need to be repaired or replaced in order to preserve the patient's quality of life and prevent heart failure. Nowadays, heart valve surgery can be performed using a number of different surgical options, including both conventional and minimally-invasive procedures. If a defective heart valve has to be replaced with a prosthetic heart valve, this can be done using either mechanical or tissue valves. Today, the repair or replacement of a defective heart valve can be performed using catheter-based procedures .More