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Key Points
- Heart valve disease is a condition in which one
or more of your heart valves don't work properly. The heart has four valves:
the tricuspid, pulmonary, mitral, and aortic valves.
- These valves have tissue flaps that open and
close with each heartbeat. These flaps make sure blood flows in the right
direction through your heart's four chambers and to the rest of your body.
- Heart valves can have three basic kinds of
problems:
- Regurgitation, or backflow, occurs when a
valve doesn't close tightly. Blood leaks back into the heart chamber rather
than flowing forward through the heart or into an artery.
- Stenosis occurs when the flaps of a valve
thicken, stiffen, or fuse together. This prevents the heart valve from fully
opening, and not enough blood flows through the valve.
- Atresia occurs when a valve lacks an opening
for blood to pass through.
- Heart valve disease can make your heart work
harder and affect its ability to pump blood. If not treated, advanced heart
valve disease can cause
heart
failure, stroke, blood clots, or sudden death due to
sudden
cardiac arrest.
- You can be born with heart valve disease or
develop it later in life. It's not known what causes the type of valve disease
that people are born with. Heart conditions and other disorders, age-related
changes, rheumatic fever, and infections can cause heart valve disease that
develops later in life.
- The major risk factors for acquired heart valve
disease are age, having risk factors for heart disease, and having risk factors
for the heart infection
endocarditis.
- Many people don't have signs or symptoms of heart
valve disease until they're middle-aged or older.
- The main sign of heart valve disease is a
heart
murmur (an unusual heart sound). Other common signs and symptoms are
unusual fatigue (tiredness), shortness of breath, and swelling of your ankles,
feet, or abdomen.
- Heart valve disease is diagnosed based on your
symptoms, a physical exam, and the results from tests and procedures.
- Currently, no medicines can cure heart valve
disease. However, lifestyle changes and medicines often can successfully treat
symptoms and delay complications for many years. Eventually, you may need to
have your faulty valve repaired or replaced with a man-made or biological
valve.
- When possible, heart valve repair is preferred
over heart valve replacement. Valve repair preserves the strength and function
of the heart muscle. People who have valve repair also have a lower risk for
endocarditis after the surgery, and they don't need to take blood-thinning
medicines for the rest of their lives.
- To prevent heart valve disease caused by
rheumatic fever, see your doctor if you have signs of a strep infection. This
infection can cause rheumatic fever, which can damage the heart valves. If you
do have a strep infection, take all medicines as prescribed.
- Heart valve disease is a lifelong condition. If
you have the condition, it's important to have ongoing medical care. See your
doctor regularly. Call your doctor if your signs or symptoms worsen or if you
have signs or symptoms of endocarditis. Take all your medicines as
prescribed.
- Mild to moderate heart valve disease during
pregnancy usually can be managed with medicines or bed rest without posing
heightened risks to the mother or fetus. Your doctor can advise you on which
medicines are appropriate during pregnancy.
- Severe heart valve disease can make pregnancy or
labor and delivery riskier. If you have severe valve disease and/or its
symptoms, consider having your heart valves repaired or replaced before getting
pregnant. Such repair or replacement also can be done during pregnancy, if
needed. But this surgery poses danger to both the mother and fetus.
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