Your doctor will discuss your treatment options based on the severity of your condition and your overall health.
- Careful Monitoring: If your aortic valve stenosis is mild or moderate without noticeable symptoms, your doctor may recommend monitoring your condition with more frequent office visits and repeat testing.
- Medications: If you do have symptoms from your aortic valve stenosis, certain heart medications may help you feel better. Your doctor will discuss if medications are a good option for you.
- Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement:
Many patients require open heart surgery to treat aortic stenosis. During this surgery, called aortic valve replacement, a cardiovascular surgeon removes the diseased valve and replaces it with either a mechanical or tissue valve.
- Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR): Certain patients may be eligible for a less invasive method of replacing the aortic valve called transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR).
During TAVR, the doctor delivers the new valve using a balloon-tipped catheter. This procedure does not require open heart surgery.
- Valvuloplasty: During this procedure, the doctor inflates a balloon-tipped catheter inside the narrowed valve to increase the valve's mobility. This can increase the blood volume pumped out with each heartbeat.