There are several strategies that your doctor may use to help manage your mitral valve regurgitation. In addition to lifestyle changes, your doctor may prescribe medications or refer you for a procedure to repair or replace your valve.
Lifestyle
To help reduce heart failure symptoms caused by regurgitation, your doctor may suggest several lifestyle changes. These can include reducing salt intake, limiting alcohol, quitting smoking and losing weight. Your doctor will also monitor the progression of your condition.
Medications
The medications that your doctor may prescribe for mitral valve regurgitation are often the same ones you would receive to treat risks of heart failure. These may include aspirin to reduce clotting risk and occasionally antibiotics to reduce infection risk before dental or medical procedures.
Procedures & Surgery
When medicine and lifestyle changes aren’t an option for your mitral valve regurgitation, your doctor may suggest surgery to repair or replace the leaking valve. Surgeries that your doctor may suggest include:
- Valve repair or reshaping procedures to trim or modify the valve to create a tighter seal (valvuloplasty) or replace or strengthen the ring (annulus) around the base of the valve to stabilize the whole valve (annuloplasty)
- Shortening loose or weak valve anchor cords (papillary muscles and chordae tendineae)
- Combined procedures to address valve disease at the same time as concomitant cardiac problems such as atrial fibrillation or arrhythmias, coronary artery disease, tricuspid valve disease, heart failure or cardiac tumors
- Complex customized repair procedures for severe disease, high-risk patients, re-repairs—often avoiding the need for valve replacement
- When needed, a new mechanical or tissue (from pig, cow, or human donor) valve replacement can be done.