Improving blood flow through the heart’s aortic valve
Aortic valvuloplasty is a procedure to open the aortic valve inside your heart. The flaps of the aortic valve open and close to allow blood to flow from the heart to the aorta, the body’s largest artery. If the flaps become thick or stiff, less blood will flow to the aorta and the rest of the body, weakening the heart.
The world-renowned experts in our Interventional Cardiology Program use this and other balloon valvuloplasty procedures to care for patients’ hearts. We’re typically one of the first sites in the nation to evaluate new procedures, and we’re one of the region’s highest-volume centers for these minimally invasive techniques.
Your doctor may recommend aortic valvuloplasty as an alternative to repairing or replacing the aortic valve. You may be a good candidate for this procedure if you’re waiting for a valve replacement or if you’re not strong enough for repair or replacement surgery.
What to expect during aortic valvuloplasty
Aortic valvuloplasty is done in the hospital. Your doctor will make a small incision in a blood vessel of your arm or groin and insert a thin, flexible tube called a catheter. This catheter has a balloon at the tip. The doctor will thread the catheter up to your aortic valve and inflate the balloon, which widens the valve’s opening. The doctor will then deflate the balloon and remove it and the catheter.
You’ll likely need to stay in the hospital overnight. This procedure should improve your symptoms, which may return if the aortic valve begins to narrow again. You may need to have another aortic valvuloplasty in the future, or you may need to have your aortic valve repaired or replaced.
Conditions
Aortic stenosis
Aortic stenosis, also known as aortic valve stenosis, is a narrowing of the aortic valve.
Tests
Echocardiogram
An echocardiogram uses high-frequency sound waves to create images of your heart.
Transesophageal Echocardiogram (TEE)
Transesophageal echocardiogram allows us to take very detailed images of your heart structure from a probe in your esophagus.
Our providers
Location: Change location Enter your location
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Thelma Dianne Aguilar, AGACNP
Cardiac Surgery
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Ammar S. Bafi, MD
Valvular Disease Cardiology, Structural Heart Disease Cardiology & Cardiac Surgery
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Brenda Jean Beckett, CRNP
Cardiothoracic Surgery
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Brian Thomas Bethea, MD
Cardiac Surgery
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Cierra Bruck, PA-C
Cardiac Surgery
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Laura Lee Cramer-Joyce, CRNP
Cardiac Surgery
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Susan L. Davis, ACNP-BC
Cardiac Surgery
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Carolin Hanna, AGACNP-BC
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Rachel E Harrison, MD
Cardiac Surgery
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Maria Gina Heyrana, CRNP
Cardiac Surgery
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Kathleen J. Lavery, ACNP-BC, MSN, APRN
Cardiac Surgery
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Thomas Edward MacGillivray, MD
Cardiac Surgery
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Stacey Elizabeth Miller, ANP-BC
Cardiac Surgery
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Nicole M Monte-Bovi, AGACNP-BC
Cardiac Surgery
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Susan Thornton Oyola, AGACNP-BC
Cardiac Surgery
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Christian Charles Shults, MD
Valvular Disease Cardiology, Structural Heart Disease Cardiology & Cardiac Surgery
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Ask MedStar Heart & Vascular Institute
Have general questions for our heart and vascular program? Email us at AskMHVI@medstar.net. If you have clinically-specific questions, please contact your physician’s office.