Mitral Valve Repair

What is a Keyhole Mitral Valve Repair Surgery? 

This surgery is most often used to treat heart valve disease, such as mitral valve regurgitation, where the valve leaks and allows blood to flow backwards.

A mitral valve repair does not always mean advanced heart disease. When performed early, it can prevent complications and protect long-term heart health.

Your care team will recommend repair based on the:

1. Structure of your mitral valve
2. Severity of the valve leak
3. Likelihood of a durable repair

What Is the Mitral Valve?

The mitral valve is a key valve in the heart, made up of two leaflets. Their actions include:

• They open and close to ensure that blood flows in one direction, from the left atrium to the left ventricle.
• When the left ventricle contracts to pump blood around the body, the valve closes tightly to prevent backflow into the atrium.

Mitral regurgitation occurs when the valve leaks, often due to mitral valve degeneration that weakens the valve tissue and the chordae. The chordae are string-like cords that attach the valve to the heart wall, like thin, flexible tubes, helping the valve leaflets move properly.

• Healthy chordae prevent the leaflets from turning the wrong way.
• Degeneration can cause leaflets to fail to seal, sometimes affecting one or both.
• Ruptured chordae can lead to severe, rapid leakage, while slower degeneration may cause chronic leakage.

When Mitral Valve Surgery Is Needed

We usually recommend mitral valve repair surgery when:

• The mitral valve leak (mitral regurgitation) is severe, even if you don’t notice many symptoms
• The left atrium starts to enlarge, or you develop atrial fibrillation or pulmonary hypertension
• The valve is highly repairable, with a good chance of long-term success (over 95%) when the valve anatomy is suitable and surgery is performed in experienced centres.

Having surgery early can help prevent complications and maintain long-term heart health.  Your surgeon will consider your medical history and overall heart health when recommending surgery.

Benefits of Keyhole Mitral Valve Repair

Mitral valve repair offers several important benefits:

• A repair preserves heart function better than valve replacement
• Provides excellent long-term durability
• Often suitable for minimally invasive keyhole surgical techniques, which can reduce blood loss and recovery time
• Helps prevent the progression of valvular heart disease, atrial fibrillation and pulmonary hypertension

When mitral valve repair is performed using the minimally invasive keyhole method, many patients experience a smoother recovery compared with traditional open-heart surgery.

Patients undergoing keyhole surgery often experience:

• Less pain and discomfort after surgery
• Shorter hospital stay  
• Lower risk of wound infection
• Faster healing, measured in days rather than months
• Smaller scars
• Quicker overall recovery

Possible Complications of Keyhole Mitral Valve Repair Surgery

Minimally invasive mitral valve repair is generally safe for most patients when performed by experienced heart surgeons. Large clinical studies show that keyhole surgery has safety outcomes similar to those of traditional open heart surgery at one year.

However, all heart surgeries carry some risk. Possible complications include:

• Bleeding during or after the operation, which rarely requires additional treatment.
• Infection at the incision site or deeper within the chest.
• Irregular heart rhythms (arrhythmias) that may need medication or monitoring.
• Blood clots or strokes, although the chance is low and similar to those of traditional surgery.

How We Test the Repair During Surgery

After the repair is completed, a simple but critical test is performed to confirm quality and effectiveness.

FAQs on Surgical Repair of Mitral Valves

Read the questions we hear most frequently at The Keyhole Heart Clinic about mitral valve repair surgery.

Contact us with any concerns or questions about mitral valve surgery. Our care team includes a mitral valve repair surgeon who provides hands-on guidance and support during your treatment.

Keyhole Heart Clinic: Keyhole Mitral Valve Repair Surgery

The next generation of heart surgery is available at The Keyhole Heart Clinic. Our clinic is led by Mr Inderpaul Birdi, a Cardiothoracic Surgeon and Consultant with over twenty years of experience helping patients through complex heart procedures.

Mr Birdi specialises in keyhole cardiac procedures, which use smaller incisions than those used in traditional open-heart surgery. These include:

• Keyhole coronary bypass surgery
• Keyhole mitral valve repair or replacement surgery
• Keyhole tricuspid valve replacement
• Keyhole aortic valve replacement
• Keyhole atrial fibrillation ablation
• Keyhole atrial septal defect closure

We also offer comprehensive heart screening services.

Ensure you have an effective treatment plan for mitral valve disease. Request a second opinion on mitral valve repair from the UK’s renowned heart specialist, Mr Birdi.

References

1. Akowuah EF, Maier RH, Hancock HC, et al. Minithoracotomy vs Conventional Sternotomy for Mitral Valve Repair: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. 2023;329(22):1957–1966. doi:10.1001/jama.2023.7800
2. Yandrapalli S, Sharma S, Kaplan J. Minimally Invasive Mitral Valve Surgery. [Updated 2024 Jul 2]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK567730/