Heart and valve care

Get care from a leader in heart valve and structural heart disorders at Ascension Wisconsin, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Heart and valve care in Wisconsin

Get care from a leader in heart valve and structural heart disorders at Ascension Wisconsin, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Why choose us

When you need advanced care for heart and valve disease, a team of experienced specialists at Ascension Wisconsin deliver advanced diagnostics and valve disease imaging, personalized therapeutic and surgical treatment and rehabilitation support.

Understand your heart valve disease

Cardiologists at Ascension Wisconsin specialize in heart and valve disease, which is when one or more heart valves don’t work properly. The valves normally keep blood flow moving forward in one direction. And they prevent the backward flow of blood as it leaves each chamber of the heart.

There are two main types of heart valve disease:

  • Leakage of the valve (regurgitation or insufficiency): When the valve does not close completely, it causes blood to flow backward through the valve. This reduces forward blood flow and can lead to volume overload in the heart.
  • Narrowing of the valve (stenosis): When the valve opening becomes narrowed, it limits the blood flow out of the heart. The heart is forced to pump blood with more force to move blood through the narrowed or stiff valve.

Heart valves can develop both regurgitation and stenosis at the same time. Also, more than one heart valve can be affected at the same time.

Symptoms of heart valve disease

Common symptoms of heart valve disease and heart arrhythmias include:

  • Chest pain
  • Fluttering heartbeat (palpitations)
  • Severe tiredness (fatigue)
  • Dizziness or fainting
  • Low or high blood pressure, depending on the type of valve disease
  • Shortness of breath with activity or rest
  • Belly pain because of an enlarged liver (if the tricuspid valve isn’t working correctly)
  • Swelling in the legs, ankles, feet, abdomen, or veins in the neck

How we diagnose heart valve disease

Your doctor may think you have heart valve disease if your heart doesn’t sound right through a stethoscope. They may hear abnormal sounds because of abnormal blood flow across a valve.

This is also known as a cardiac or heart cath. For this test, your doctor guides a small catheter (hollow tube) through the large artery in your upper leg, or sometimes your wrist or arm, into your heart. This procedure lets your doctor take a close look at the heart to identify concerns and to perform other tests or procedures.

This imaging procedure uses an X-ray machine and a computer to create 3-D pictures of the heart. Sometimes a dye is injected into a vein so that your heart arteries can also be seen. Sometimes medicine is given to lower your heart rate so it captures a better image. It can also be used to find out how much calcium is in your heart arteries. Calcium is a marker for coronary artery disease.

This procedure uses a combination of large magnets, radio waves, and a computer to make detailed images of organs and structures in your body. Your doctor may order an MRI of the heart to look at the heart valves and major vessels. It can also detect coronary artery disease and how much damage it has caused. It can also assess heart problems that have been present since birth. It can find tumors and other conditions. Your doctor may order this test before other procedures such as angioplasty or stenting of the coronary arteries and heart or vascular surgery.

A chest X-ray is a quick, noninvasive imaging test that provides a detailed picture of the inside of your chest, helping your care team detect signs of a heart condition.

It's used to check the heart's function and structures. During the procedure, a transducer (like a microphone) sends out sound waves at a frequency too high to be heard. When the transducer is placed on the chest at certain locations and angles, the sound waves move through the skin and other body tissues to the heart tissues. The waves bounce or "echo" off the heart structures. These sound waves are sent to a computer that can create moving images on the screen of the heart walls and valves.

Our cardiology team uses advanced diagnostic tools and expertise to accurately identify a wide range of cardiac issues, ensuring you receive the right care as early as possible.

Our cardiology team uses advanced diagnostic tools and expertise to accurately identify a wide range of cardiac issues, ensuring you receive the right care as early as possible.

This is also called a treadmill or exercise ECG. This test is done to monitor the heart while you walk on a treadmill or pedal a stationary bike. Your doctor also monitors your breathing and blood pressure. A stress test may be used to detect coronary artery disease, or to determine safe levels of exercise after a heart attack or heart surgery. This test can also be done using special medicines that stress the heart in a similar manner as exercise does. Sometimes a stress test will collect ECG information along with heart ultrasound pictures. This is called an exercise or stress echocardiogram (echo). It's more sensitive and specific than ECG stress testing alone.

This test is similar to a transthoracic echocardiogram. But it's done with medicine to help you relax (sedation). It's considered invasive because a probe is put into your body. In this test, you will swallow a small probe about the size of your thumb. The probe passes down the esophagus, which lies directly behind the heart. It allows a much closer look at the heart's structure and function than a standard echocardiogram done on the skin of the chest. It can better look at heart valve structure and function. Your doctor can better see any blood clots that may be in the heart.

How we treat heart valve disease

Treatment for heart valve disease may include medication, therapy or surgery.

For this nonsurgical procedure, a special hollow tube (catheter) is put into a blood vessel in the groin and guided into the heart. At the tip of the catheter is a deflated balloon that is inserted into the narrowed heart valve. Once in place, the balloon is inflated to stretch the valve open, and then removed. This procedure is only used to treat stenotic (narrowed) valves.

Your cardiologist may recommend medications to help manage your heart condition. Mediation may be used to lower blood pressure, prevent blood clots, lower cholesterol and more.

This procedure encompasses several types of procedures that are designed to improve blood flow through the coronary arteries, including:

  • Balloon angioplasty: This is also called PTCA (percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty). A small balloon is inflated inside a narrowed or blocked artery to re-establish blood flow. This is often done together with a tiny mesh coil (stent) placement.
  • Coronary artery stent: A tiny wire mesh coil is expanded inside the narrowed or blocked artery to open the blocked area. It's left in place to keep the artery open.
  • Atherectomy: The narrowed or blocked area inside the artery is shaved away by a tiny device on the end of a catheter.
  • Laser angioplasty: A laser is used to help open a blocked artery.

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is a procedure that replaces a diseased aortic valve with a man-made valve. The TAVR procedure may be recommended as an alternative to open heart surgery. The old heart valve is not removed but acts like an anchor for the new heart valve. This procedure is done through small cuts (incisions) using a long, thin tube (catheter), X-rays, and ultrasound.

These are minimally invasive procedures. The healthcare provider replaces the heart valves. It's done through an artery (for the aortic valve) or a vein (for the tricuspid, pulmonary, or mitral valve) and is often performed from the groin.

Cardiac surgeons treat complex heart valve disease to repair damaged heart valves through open heart surgery and minimally invasive procedures, including TAVR and MitraClip™. When one or both of your valves do not open or close correctly, it can lead to reduced blood flow, cause the heart to work harder, and result in symptoms such as fatigue, shortness of breath, chest pain, fainting, or even heart failure.

Get a second opinion from a heart specialist

When you are facing a new diagnosis or are deciding on a surgical or therapeutic treatment plan, there’s a lot to think about. If you are looking for a second opinion for advanced heart care, our cardiologists can also connect you with the right specialists for minimally invasive surgery, including TAVR, MitraClip, WATCHMAN, and ablation. Our heart and vascular specialists can provide a second opinion, based on our experience and as part of a national care team.

Before your appointment, check with your insurance company to find out if a second opinion is covered. We can request your medical records on your behalf, so that they can be shared with your care team before your arrival.

How to get care

stethoscope

Heart and valve problems can lead to heart attack or progressive heart failure, so it’s important to talk to your doctor about early treatment options. For some heart valve conditions, surgery may be recommended. Whenever possible, our national care team of heart specialists perform cardiac surgeries using minimally invasive techniques, which may help shorten your recovery time and lower your risk of complications. Find a heart specialist near you.

Refer your patient to Ascension

Your patients can expect compassionate, personalized care from the moment our specialists connect with them. Our rehabilitation care teams start by listening to fully understand your patient’s needs and to develop an individualized care plan.

If you are experiencing a life-threatening emergency, go directly to the ER or call 911.

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