Is rheumatic heart disease surgery minimally invasive or open?

Rheumatic heart disease mainly involves the endocardium causing different valve injuries, which can be treated with minimally invasive interventional therapy or open surgery depending on the condition. Taking mitral stenosis as an example, if the patient only has simple mitral stenosis with good valve mobility and no signs of calcification, percutaneous balloon mitral valvuloplasty can be performed. This is a minimally invasive interventional therapy, in which a catheter is inserted into the blood vessel via femoral vein puncture to reach the mitral valve, and the stenotic adherent valves are separated and expanded with the use of a balloon. If the patient has severe deformity or calcification of the valve or the lesion has involved the papillary muscles or tendon cords, mitral valve separation or prosthetic valve replacement can be performed, which is an open surgery and requires an open chest. Patients suffering from rheumatic heart disease and in need of surgical treatment are recommended to go to the hospital as soon as possible, and choose the appropriate surgical method after consulting with a specialized doctor in light of their condition.