Valvuloplasty is also done to open a stiff (stenotic) heart valve. In valvuloplasty, your doctor inserts a really tiny, narrow, hollow tube (catheter) into a vessel within the groin and advances it through the arterial blood vessel into the guts. Once the tubing reaches the stiff valve, your doctor inflates an outsized balloon at the tip of the tubing till the flaps (leaflets) of the valve are pushed opened. Once the valve has been opened, the doctor deflates the balloon and removes the tubing.

A balloon is target-hunting with the tubing to the guts and enlarged within the narrowed valve to separate the leaflets apart. Penn cardiologists use valvuloplasty to treat:

Mitral pathology: Valvuloplasty is that the treatment of alternative for patients with rheumatic left atrioventricular valve stenosis whose anatomy is appropriate for the procedure.

Pulmonary stenosis: As an inherited disorder, stricture is commonly treated in childhood. Penn cardiologists use valvuloplasty to repair stricture in adult patients World Health Organization need more treatment.

Aortic stenosis: Our cardiologists use balloon valvuloplasty as a palliative treatment to enhance aortal stenosis; connected symptoms in patients World Health Organization aren't candidates for semilunar valve surgery and transcatheter semilunar valve replacement.