- Heart valve replacement surgery involves replacing a damaged heart valve with a new mechanical (artificial) valve made from carbon and metal, or a valve made from human or animal tissue.
- Heart valves are openings in your heart that control the flow of blood. There are 4 heart valves, but it's usually the aortic valve or mitral valve, on the left side of your heart, that needs to be replaced.
- Heart valve replacement can treat different types of heart valve disease, including aortic stenosis (where the aortic valve is too narrow) and mitral regurgitation (where the mitral valve is leaky).
- It may be recommended if you have severe heart valve disease and it's not possible to repair your heart valve.
- Heart valve replacement is usually done by making a large cut in your chest (open heart surgery). But sometimes it's done using smaller cuts in your chest, or by passing a thin tube called a catheter through a blood vessel to reach your heart.
- You'll usually have a general anaesthetic, so you'll be asleep during the operation. If you have it done using a catheter you'll usually be awake.
- You'll have the operation in a specialist hospital. You'll usually stay in hospital for about a week. It can take 2 to 3 months to fully recover.
What is a heart valve replacement?
Page last reviewed: 17 July 2025
Next review due: 17 July 2028