Heart Valve Treatment

The Cardiovascular Center at Beijing United Family Hospital provides a multidisciplinary team of experts to manage common heart valve diseases. In this unique program, a cardiologist, echocardiographer and cardiac surgeon work together to:

• Fully diagnose and understand a patient’s valve condition
• Determine if a heart valve is reparable or needs replacement
• Determine the right time to repair or replace a valve for a patient

A convenient process

Our team strives to make the evaluation process convenient and efficient by coordinating care among all specialists and by quickly communicating with the clinicians involved. For example, prior to a patient’s initial visit, our physicians collect and review all records and imaging studies to determine what additional tests or consults are needed, and when possible, to schedule those appointments on the same day.

Initial assessment

A patient’s initial evaluation from the Cardiovascular Center includes a full assessment with a determination of whether or not an intervention is necessary. If intervention is required, we determine which procedure is most appropriate for the patient’s specific condition.

Our physicians are experienced in treating the following heart valve conditions:

• Valve conditions originating at birth (congenital valve diseases)
• Damage to valves caused by rheumatic fever (rheumatic valve diseases)
• Weakening or aging of the valve (degenerative valve disease)
• Valve conditions related to abnormal function of the heart muscle (ischemic conditions)
• Inflammation of the inner layer of the heart (valve endocarditis)

Treatment and procedures

Our interventional cardiologists are experienced with catheter-based approaches to valve disease and perform a range of procedures, including:

• Mitral and aortic valvuloplasty for stenosis
• Insertion of closure devices for prosthetic paravalvular leaks

Our expert cardiac surgeons offer the following open surgical procedures:

• Valve repair surgery (mitral, aortic and tricuspid valve reconstruction)
• Valve replacement surgery (mechanical and bioprosthetic valve replacement, including homografts and stentless prostheses)