Heart Valve Diseases (Print Version)

Also called: Also called: Valvular heart disease

Your heart has four valves. Normally, these valves open to let blood flow through or out of your heart, and then shut to keep it from flowing backward. But sometimes they don't work properly. What can happen?

Blood can leak back through the valve in the wrong direction, which is called regurgitation
One of the valves, the mitral valve, sometimes has "floppy" flaps and doesn't close tightly. This is called mitral valve prolapse, and it's one of the most common heart valve conditions. Sometimes it causes regurgitation
When the valve doesn't open enough, which blocks blood flow, it is called stenosis

Valve problems can be present at birth or caused by infections, heart attacks, or heart disease or damage. Some valve problems are minor and do not need treatment. Others might require medicine, medical procedures or surgery to repair or replace the valve.

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Start Here

Heart Valve Disease(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) - http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/hvd/hvd_whatis.html
Heart Valves(American Heart Association) - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4598
Also available in Spanish http://es.aha.drtango.com/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4598

Overviews

Heart Valve Disorders(Merck & Co., Inc.) - http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec03/ch028/ch028a.html
Valve Disease(Texas Heart Institute) - http://www.texasheartinstitute.org/HIC/Topics/Cond/valvedis.cfm
Also available in Spanish http://www.texasheartinstitute.org/HIC/Topics_Esp/Cond/valvedis_sp.cfm

Latest News

Survival Rate Little Changed with Aortic Valve Disorder(09/16/2008, HealthDay) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_69353.html
No Definitive Link Seen between Vytorin and Cancer(09/02/2008, HealthDay) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_68818.html

Diagnosis/Symptoms

Cardiac Catheterization(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) - http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/cath/cath_what.html
Cardiac MRI(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) - http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/mri/mri_whatis.html
Doppler Ultrasound: What Is It Used for?(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/doppler-ultrasound/AN00511/METHOD=print
Echocardiogram(Patient Education Institute) - Requires Flash Player - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/echocardiogram/htm/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/echocardiogramspanish/htm/index.htm
Echocardiography(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) - http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/echo/echo_whatis.html
Ejection Fraction: What Does It Measure?(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/ejection-fraction/AN00360/METHOD=print

Treatment

Aortic Valve(Society of Thoracic Surgeons) - http://www.sts.org/sections/patientinformation/valvesurgery/aorticvalve/index.html
Heart Valve Replacement(Patient Education Institute) - Requires Flash Player - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/heartvalvereplacement/htm/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/heartvalvereplacementspanish/htm/index.htm
Mitral Valve Repair(Society of Thoracic Surgeons) - http://www.sts.org/sections/patientinformation/valvesurgery/mitralvalverepair/
Mitral Valve Replacement(Society of Thoracic Surgeons) - http://www.sts.org/sections/patientinformation/valvesurgery/mitralvalvereplacement/
What Is Heart Valve Surgery?(American Heart Association) - Links to PDF - http://www.americanheart.org/downloadable/heart/110080594591338%20What%20Is%20HeartValve%20Surge.pdf

Rehabilitation/Recovery

Cardiac Rehabilitation: Building a Better Life After Heart Disease(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/cardiac-rehabilitation/HB00017/METHOD=print
What to Expect After Heart Surgery(Society of Thoracic Surgeons) - http://www.sts.org/sections/patientinformation/adultcardiacsurgery/heartsurgery/

Disease Management

Devices That Keep the Heart Beating(Food and Drug Administration) - http://www.fda.gov/consumer/features/cardiacdevices013008.html

Specific Conditions

Aortic Calcification: Does It Increase My Heart Disease Risk?(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/aortic-valve-calcification/HQ00245/METHOD=print
Aortic Valve Regurgitation(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/aortic-valve-regurgitation/DS00419/DSECTION=all&METHOD=print
Aortic Valve Stenosis(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/aortic-valve-stenosis/DS00418/DSECTION=all&METHOD=print
Diseases of the Tricuspid Valve(Texas Heart Institute) - http://www.texasheartinstitute.org/HIC/Topics/Cond/vtricus.cfm
Ebstein's Anomaly(American Heart Association) - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=11075
Heart Murmur(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) - http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/heartmurmur/hmurmur_what.html
JAMA Patient Page: Heart Valve Infections(American Medical Association) - http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/reprint/297/12/1396.pdf
Also available in Spanish http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/data/297/12/1396/DC1/1
Mitral Valve Regurgitation(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/mitral-valve-regurgitation/DS00421/DSECTION=all&METHOD=print
Mitral Valve Stenosis(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/mitral-valve-stenosis/DS00420/DSECTION=all&METHOD=print
Pulmonary Valve Stenosis(American Heart Association) - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=11070
Rheumatic Heart Disease/Rheumatic Fever(American Heart Association) - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4709
Tricuspid Valve Disease(Cleveland Clinic Foundation) - http://www.clevelandclinic.org/heartcenter/pub/guide/disease/valve/tricuspid.htm

Related Issues

New Guidelines Regarding Antibiotics to Prevent Infective Endocarditis(American Heart Association) - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3047051

Pictures & Photographs

See My Heart Cardiovascular Media Library(American Society of Echocardiography) - Requires Flash Player - http://www.medmovie.com/mmdatabase/MediaPlayer.aspx?ClientID=46&TopicID=701,'_blank','toolbar=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,width=640,height=480','true'

Tutorials

Echocardiogram(Patient Education Institute) - Requires Flash Player - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/echocardiogram/htm/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/echocardiogramspanish/htm/index.htm
Heart Valve Replacement(Patient Education Institute) - Requires Flash Player - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/heartvalvereplacement/htm/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/heartvalvereplacementspanish/htm/index.htm

Videos

"Sighted" Heart Surgery from the Hybrid OR/Cath Lab(OR-Live) - Requires media player - One hour program - http://www.or-live.com/distributors/NLM/rnh.cfm?id=193
Aortic Valve Replacement with Third Generation Stented Bioprosthesis(OR-Live) - Requires media player - One hour program - http://www.or-live.com/distributors/NLM/rnh.cfm?id=186
Beating Heart Mitral Valve Replacement(OR-Live) - Requires Flash Player - One hour program - 1/08/2008 - http://www.or-live.com/distributors/nlm-flash/mof_1983/rnh.cfm?id=623
Minimally Invasive Aortic Valve Replacement(OR-Live) - Requires media player - One hour program - 12/05/2006 - http://www.or-live.com/distributors/NLM/rnh.cfm?id=373
Minimally Invasive Mitral Valve Replacement and Surgical Ablation(OR-Live) - Requires media player - One hour program - http://www.or-live.com/distributors/NLM/rnh.cfm?id=232
Mitral Valve Repair Surgery(OR-Live) - Requires Flash Player - One hour program - 8/22/2007 - http://www.or-live.com/distributors/NLM-Flash/lob_1791/rnh.cfm?id=628
Pediatric Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve (TPV) Implantation(OR-Live) - Requires Flash Player - One hour program - 10/04/2007 - http://www.or-live.com/distributors/nlm-flash/chh_2036/rnh.cfm?id=615
Repair of a Complex Congenital Cardiac Defect(OR-Live) - Requires Flash Player - One hour program - 10/05/2007 - http://www.or-live.com/distributors/nlm-flash/chh_2037/rnh.cfm?id=641

Anatomy/Physiology

Heart Anatomy(Texas Heart Institute) - http://www.texasheartinstitute.org/HIC/Anatomy/anatomy2.cfm
Also available in Spanish http://www.texasheartinstitute.org/HIC/Anatomy_Esp/anato_sp.cfm

Clinical Trials

ClinicalTrials.gov: Aortic Valve Stenosis(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Aortic+Valve+Stenosis%22
ClinicalTrials.gov: Heart Murmurs(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Heart+Murmurs%22
ClinicalTrials.gov: Heart Valve Diseases(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Heart+Valve+Diseases%22

Journal Articles

References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

Article: Predictors of outcomes in low-flow, low-gradient aortic stenosis: results of... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18824760&tool=MedlinePlus
Article: 2008 Focused update incorporated into the ACC/AHA 2006 guidelines for... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18820172&tool=MedlinePlus
Article: Information from your family doctor. Aortic stenosis: what you should... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18819237&tool=MedlinePlus
Heart Valve Diseases -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=(heart+valve+diseases[majr]+NOT+(mitral+valve+prolapse[majr]+OR+heart+defects,congenital[majr]))+AND+english[la]+AND+humans[mh]+AND+(review[pt]+OR+guideline[pt]+OR+clinical+trial[pt]+OR+jsubsetk[text]+OR+patient+education+handout[pt]+OR+jsubsetn[text])+NOT+(letter[pt]+OR+editorial[pt]+OR+case+reports[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus
Heart valve replacement -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=(heart+valve+prosthesis[majr]+OR+heart+valve+prosthesis+implantation[majr])+AND+humans[mh]+AND+english[la]+AND+(patient+education+handout[pt]+OR+review[pt]+OR+guideline[pt]+OR+clinical+trial[pt]+OR+jsubsetk[text]+OR+jsubsetaim[text]+OR+jsubsetn[text])+NOT+(letter[pt]+OR+editorial[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus

Medical Encyclopedia

heart valves - http://vsearch.nlm.nih.gov/vivisimo/cgi-bin/query-meta?v:project=medlineplus&binning-state=group%3d%3dMedical%20Encyclopedia&query=heart+valves

Dictionaries/Glossaries

Cardiac Glossary(American Heart Association) - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3038158
Deciphering Heart Disease Medspeak(Medical Library Association) - Links to PDF - http://www.mlanet.org/pdf/heart-disease1.pdf
Heart Surgery Terms(Society of Thoracic Surgeons) - http://www.sts.org/sections/patientinformation/otherresources/heartsurgterms/

Directories

Find a Society of Thoracic Surgeons Member(Society of Thoracic Surgeons) - http://www.sts.org/sections/membership/findamember/
Find an Accredited Echocardiography Laboratory or Vascular Laboratory(American Society of Echocardiography) - http://www.asecho.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3333

Organizations

American Heart Association - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=1200000
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute - http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/

Statistics

Rheumatic Heart Disease Statistics(American Heart Association) - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4712

Children

Ask the Pediatric Cardiologist - Bicuspid Aortic Valve(American Heart Association) - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=991
Ask the Pediatric Cardiologist: Tricuspid Valve Abnormalities(American Heart Association) - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3028640
Heart Murmurs(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/kid/health_problems/heart/heart_murmurs.html
Heart Murmurs and Your Child(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/heart/murmurs.html
Also available in Spanish http://kidshealth.org/parent/en_espanol/general/murmurs_esp.html
How the Body Works: The Heart(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/kid/htbw/_bfs_CSactivity.html

You may also be interested in these MedlinePlus related pages:

Mitral Valve Prolapse - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/mitralvalveprolapse.html
Blood, Heart and Circulation - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/bloodheartandcirculation.html

The primary NIH organization for research on Heart Valve Diseases is the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute - http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/