Heart Valve Disease & Treatment

If you’re suffering from severe aortic stenosis, you may have given up the life you love. But with help from the specialists at Our Lady of the Lake’s Heart & Vascular Institute, you don’t have to give up hope.

About Aortic Stenosis

Aortic stenosis is one of the most common and serious valve disease problems. The aorta is the main artery carrying blood out of the heart. When blood leaves the heart, it flows through the aortic valve and into the aorta. In aortic stenosis, the aortic valve does not open fully, which decreases blood flow from the heart. As the aortic valve becomes narrower, the left ventricle has to increase pressure to pump blood out through the valve. To do this extra work, the muscles in the ventricle walls become thicker, which can lead to chest pain. As the pressure continues to rise, blood may back up into the lungs. Severe forms of aortic stenosis prevent adequate amounts of blood from reaching the brain and the rest of the body.

Aortic stenosis may be present from birth (congenital), but it more commonly develops during aging as calcium or scarring damages the valve and restricts the amount of blood flowing through it.

 

Symptoms 

People with aortic stenosis may not experience any noticeable symptoms until the narrowing of the valve is severe. Common signs include:

• Shortness of breath

• Chest pain, pressure or tightness

• Fainting, also called syncope

• Palpitations or a feeling of heavy, pounding or noticeable heartbeats

• Fatigue, especially during increased activity

 

Valve Disease Treatment Options

Surgeons at the Heart & Vascular Institute are skilled in a variety of procedures to provide patients with customized solutions, such as the minimally invasive MitraClip procedure, which allows surgeons to reduce the symptoms of mitral valve regurgitation in patients who shouldn’t undergo open-heart surgery.    

Additionally, we are the only provider in the Baton Rouge-area to offer transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR)—a revolutionary, minimally invasive alternative for those considered too high risk for open-heart surgery. During TAVR, your surgeon inserts a catheter through a small incision in the groin to replace the heart valve instead of opening the chest and completely removing the diseased valve. This procedure may offer immediate relief of debilitating symptoms and help you enjoy a longer, healthier and more active life.


In addition to the TAVR procedure, surgeons at our Heart & Vascular Institute also perform traditional aortic valve replacement (AVR), long considered the gold standard treatment for aortic stenosis. During this open-heart procedure, the damaged valve is replaced with an artificial one.

At the Heart & Vascular Institute, our team will conduct a thorough evaluation to help determine the best possible treatment. If one of our valve replacement options is right for you, we offer support at every step—including our personalized cardiopulmonary rehabilitation program to help you get back to your life faster.

For more information and to see if you may be a candidate for one of these procedures, call (225) 767-3900 or find a heart valve specialist anytime online.