Valvular Heart Disease
A valve is like a gate that controls the direction of the blood flow through the chambers of the heart, lungs and the aorta. There are four heart valves:
- Tricuspid Valve
- Pulmonary Valve
- Mitral Valve
- Aortic Valve
Valvular heart disease is a general term used when one or more heart valves has a defect or is malfunctioning. The valve(s) either do not open completely (stenosis), close completely (regurgitation), or could be a mix of both.
Stenosis (narrowing) – occurs when there is trouble with opening of the valve. This does not allow the heart to be filled with enough blood and therefore decreasing the blood flow to the rest of the body.
Regurgitation (insufficiency, leaky, or incompetence) – occurs when there is trouble with the valve closure, allowing the blood to flow backwards.
- Congenital (before birth) – mostly affects pulmonic or aortic valves
- Bicuspid Aortic Valve – normally aortic valve has 3 leaflets/cusps but in this condition it has two. The valve can either be stiff (stenotic) or leaky (regurgitant)
Ex: Marfan’s syndrome
- Bicuspid Aortic Valve – normally aortic valve has 3 leaflets/cusps but in this condition it has two. The valve can either be stiff (stenotic) or leaky (regurgitant)
- Acquired
- Bacterial (Infective) Endocarditis – caused mostly due to bacteria traveling to your heart and attacks the heart valves. The bacteria can enter from dental procedures, intravenous (IV) drug needles, and other causes.
- Others
- Heart attack
- Coronary artery disease
- Cardiomyopathy
- Heart failure
- Hypertension
- High Cholesterol
- Aortic aneurysm
- Syphilis
- Systemic diseases like SLE and connective tissue diseases
- Fibro-calcific degeneration
- Rheumatic heart disease
Note: Not everyone may experience all the symptoms.
Show references
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Zeng YI, Sun R, Li X, Liu M, Chen S, Zhang P. Pathophysiology of valvular heart disease. Exp Ther Med. 2016;11(4):1184-1188. doi:10.3892/etm.2016.3048
Nishimura RA, et al. 2017 AHA/ACC focused update of the 2014 AHA/ACC guideline for the management of patients with valvular heart disease: A report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Clinical Practice Guidelines. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2017;70:252.
Taggarse AK, et al. How has robotic repair changed the landscape of mitral valve surgery? Annals of Cardiothoracic Surgery. 2015; doi: 10.3978/j.issn.2225-319X.2014.12.09.
Zeng YI, Sun R, Li X, Liu M, Chen S, Zhang P. Pathophysiology of valvular heart disease. Exp Ther Med. 2016;11(4):1184-1188. doi:10.3892/etm.2016.3048
Boudoulas KD, Ravi Y, Garcia D, et al. Type of Valvular Heart Disease Requiring Surgery in the 21st Century: Mortality and Length-of-Stay Related to Surgery. Open Cardiovasc Med J. 2013;7:104-109. Published 2013 Sep 4. doi:10.2174/1874192420130902001
