Heart Valve Surgical Repair

What is Heart Valve Surgery

At Lee Health, heart valve surgery plays a critical role in restoring the function of damaged or diseased heart valves. These valves control and regulate blood flow within the heart, any dysfunction can lead to serious health issues. Our experienced cardiothoracic team is here to guide you through every step, from understanding the procedure to supporting your recovery.

Lee Health's expert team provides effective surgical interventions to enhance patient quality of life and longevity. Our goal is to restore normal heart function and alleviate symptoms associated with valve dysfunction.

Meet Shipley's Cardiothoracic Surgery Team

Our dedicated team brings extensive experience and exceptional care tailored to your unique health needs. A multidisiplinary strategy ensures support before, during, and after the procedure. We recognize heart health is a journey, and our valve clinic is here to guide you every step of the way.

David Cervantes

Mickyas Eskender

Heart Valve Surgical Treatment Options

There are many different types of valve repair surgery. Three of the most common are traditional heart valve surgery, minimally invasive heart valve surgery and transcatheter valve therapies.

Traditional Valve Repair

This is an open-heart surgery that requires your surgeon to open your breast bone (this is called a full sternotomy) to have direct access to the valves of your heart in order to make the required repairs. You will be placed on the heart-lung machine in order to perform the procedure.

Traditional valve repair- Lee Health

Minimally Invasive Valve Repair

Uses smaller incisions to repair your heart's valves. The benefits of minimally invasive surgery include eliminating the need for sternotomy. A smaller incision is made either between the ribs of the upper left side of the chest or the upper portion of the sternum, which means less blood loss and a quicker recovery. Not everyone is a candidate for minimally invasive valve surgery. Your surgeon will determine if this type of surgery is right for you.

Minimally invasive valve repair- Lee Health

Minimally Invasive MitraClip

MitraClip is a minimally invasive procedure used to repair the mitral valve. A catheter is inserted through a vein in the leg and guided up to the heart. This is where a small clip is placed on the mitral leaflet to help the valve.

Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR)

The TAVR procedure allows physicians to replace a diseased aortic valve without open-heart surgery. A new valve attached to the catheter is inserted through a large artery in the leg and threaded up to the aortic valve. A valve on the end of the catheter is then inserted into the opening of the valve. Learn more about the procedure here.

TAVR (Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement)

This cutting-edge procedure repairs narrowing of the aortic valve opening--and provides hope when there were no previous options.

TAVR: A Minimally Invasive Approach That Can Save a Life

John Essler didn’t even realize how bad things were until after his surgery. “I felt tired in the evening, like 8 o’clock it was time to go to bed. I never noticed that. It was like two or three days after the surgery that I realized ‘you know what, I don’t feel that way anymore.’”

He had aortic stenosis, or plaque buildup that blocks blood flow from the heart to the rest of the body. “The heart grows to compensate for that. Like any muscle if it’s working harder, it grows bigger, and then eventually can compromise the blood supply to the heart which can cause heart failure,” said Cardiothoracic Surgeon Dr. David Cervantes.

The Shipley Cardiothoracic center at Lee Health was the first program in the state, and second in the country to conduct the minimally invasive TAVR procedure. “We usually go in through the groin, using a catheter about the width of my pinky. We sneak it up through the aorta across the aortic valve, where we deployed carefully to open up the aortic valve,” said Dr. Cervantes.

Dr. Cervantes said it’s one of the most rewarding procedures he does, since patients typically feel better the very next day. His patient, John Essler agrees, “(I had) No pain at all. Surgery was Thursday, Friday I was released, Saturday I was walking and biking. He said it has given him a new lease on life. “At 76 I’m in the last quarter looking for overtime. That’s the way I look at it. Maybe the game can go on a little longer.”

You can learn more about TAVR by searching for it on leehealth.org.

View More Health Matters video segments at LeeHealth.org/Healthmatters/

Lee Health in Fort Myers, FL is the largest network of health care facilities in Southwest Florida and is highly respected for its expertise, innovation and quality of care. For more than 100 years, we’ve been providing our community with personalized preventative health services and primary care to highly specialized care services and robotic assisted surgeries. Lee Health - Caring People. Inspiring Care.

Call The Heart Valve Center

The Heart Valve Center is located inside of the Shipley Cardiothoracic Center. Our team of cardiologists, interventional cardiologists, and cardiothoracic surgeons are here to help get you back to a healthy, active lifestyle.

Cardiothoracic Surgery - Heart Institute at Shipley Cardiothoracic Center

9981 S HealthPark Dr, Suite 156 Fort Myers, FL 33908

Fax: (239) 343-6342

Get Directions

Phone number (239) 343-6341 View Details

Heart Valve Repair Risks

Not everyone is a candidate for minimally invasive valve surgery. Your surgeon will determine if this type of surgery is right for you. Your doctor will discuss the risks of these procedures with you. Some of the risks include the following:

Bleeding
Heart rhythm problems

Less common complications are:

Heart attack, if a blood clot breaks loose soon after surgery
Infection of the chest wound
Kidney failure
Stroke
Reaction to the anesthesia

Heart Valve Technology and Expertise at Lee Health

Lee Health provides the most advanced valve repair surgeries and treatments using a multidisciplinary approach.

Our surgeons have extensive experience with minimally invasive procedures. We have found that a minimally invasive approach can be effective for most cardiac surgery patients, even with challenging repairs. The surgeons operating at Lee Health routinely use minimally invasive procedures for mitral valve repair.

Lee Health is also a leader in the use of robotic surgery for valve repair. Robotic surgery makes it possible to perform valve surgery through smaller incisions with greater control and accuracy. Lee Health was the first in the region to perform valve surgery with robotic assistance.

Why Choose Lee Health for Cardiothoracic Surgery?

Our team of cardiothoracic specialists provides compassionate, innovative care tailored to your needs. With minimally invasive options, cutting-edge robotic tools, and a proven track record of treating even the most complex cases, Lee Health stands at the forefront of heart and lung surgery in Southwest Florida.

As part of the Heart Institute, we ensure continuity of care across every step of your journey. From diagnosis and surgery to rehabilitation and long-term health.

Heart Institute

We provide award winning cardiovascular care with the most experienced experts and the largest heart program in the region.

Related to Heart Valve Center Repair

Pre-Operative and Post-Operative Education at Shipley

Shipley Cardiothoracic Center

Shipley Education

Find a Cardiothoracic Surgeon

FIND A DOCTOR

Browse doctors by specialty, location, and more

Heart Valve Surgical Repair

What is Heart Valve Surgery

Meet Shipley's Cardiothoracic Surgery Team