Mitral valve surgery: percentage of valves repaired

The mitral valve is one of the valves in the heart. Sometimes the mitral valve is diseased and requires surgery. In some cases, the mitral valve can be repaired instead of replaced. This surgery is called a mitral valve repair and because the patient’s native valve remains in place, valve repair is preferred in most cases over valve replacement. It is considered an isolated mitral valve repair when it is not done in conjunction with any other surgeries.

A higher percentage of mitral valve repair surgeries are considered advantageous to mitral valve replacement surgeries because mitral valve repair surgery does not require patients to take blood thinners for the rest of their lives. Taking blood thinners may result in lifestyle modifications such as sports or activity restrictions and dietary constraints.

About this measure

This measure tracks the percentage of isolated mitral valve repair surgeries the hospital performed in 2011. See mitral valve replacement surgery: percentage of valves replaced to view the percentage of mitral valves the hospital replaced in 2011. The second graph shows a trend over time for this measure.
 

Note: In this case, a higher number is better.