Heart Valve Repair or Replacement

Heart valve repair or replacement surgery is a treatment option for diseased valves and heart failure. During valve surgery, the surgeon will adjust your own heart valve to make it work better or replace it with a new one, which may be mechanical or biological.

What to expect

The procedure is done in an operating room. You will receive anesthesia and be connected to a heart-lung bypass machine, which keeps blood moving through your body during the procedure. Your surgeon will make an incision in your chest and repair or replace the diseased valve.

Our surgeons have performed thousands of procedures, including many complex cases, and have results that exceed national averages.

Some patients may be candidates for a less-invasive valve replacement procedure, called TAVR, or transcatheter aortic valve replacement. Community Hospital is the only hospital in Monterey County to offer TAVR.

Recovery

After your surgery, you will first stay in the intensive care unit (ICU). Your healthcare team will check your heart rate, blood pressure, and oxygen levels regularly during this time. After you leave the ICU, you'll be moved to less-intensive level of care in a nursing unit elsewhere in the hospital before going home.

Going home

After you are released from the hospital, your heart-care team will continue to be involved in your recovery. You will be scheduled for follow-up visits, and participation in our outpatient Cardiac Rehabilitation Program may be recommended. Learn more.