As your heart ... on the valve's cusps. Calcium deposits can build up sooner in people with abnormal aortic valves – such as having 2 cusps instead of 3 -- or as a result of chest radiation ...

Your valves, located between the heart’s chambers ... heart valve surgery always requires cutting open the chest and stopping the heart. However, modern techniques like minimally invasive ...

This can be done with traditional, open-heart surgery or with a relatively newer procedure known as transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). You don’t have your chest opened with TAVR.