About Heart Valves, Causes of Heart Valve Disease Symptoms, Heart Valve Damage Treatment
Heart valves are four valves in your heart, two on the left side and two on the right. Each side has an inflow valve and an outflow valve.
Healthy heart valves allow blood to flow only one direction. The 4 valves in your heart are:
- aortic valve ~ between left ventricle & aorta
- mitral valve ~ between left atrium & left ventricle
- tricuspid valve ~ between right atrium & right ventricle
- pulmonary valve ~ between right ventricle & pulmonary artery
When your heart valves are working properly they’ll open and close fully with ease.
However, when a heart valve is diseased or damaged it fails to open or close entirely. When a valve doesn’t completely open it’s referred to as stenosis. And when one doesn’t close enough, it allows for blood backflow causing regurgitation. So, stenosis and regurgitation are the two major heart issues that arise from heart valve disease.
Mitral and aortic valve diseases cause the most serious health problems, particularly mitral valve prolapse and aortic valve stenosis. Diseases of the tricuspid and pulmonary valves are relatively rare.
Heart valve disease or damage can be congenital, as is the case with an irregularly shaped aortic valve or a narrowed mitral valve. Or your heart valve problem may be caused by:
- syphilis
- hypertension
- aortic dissection
- Marfan’s syndrome
- heart attack damage
- infective endocarditis
- coronary artery disease
- connective tissue diseases
- ascending aortic aneurysm
- calcific degeneration ~ most often in elderly
- valve structure changes caused by aging process
- myxomatous degeneration ~ most often in elderly
- anti-obesity drugs fen-phen & Redux ~ no longer on market
- rheumatic fever ~ rare due to effective antibiotic treatment
A mild case of heart valve disease may not cause you symptoms. When symptoms are present they’ll vary depending on the type of heart valve disease you suffer. But generally, these are some common symptoms of heart valve disease:
- angina
- fatigue
- dyspnea
- dizziness
- migraines
- chest pain
- fainting spells
- extremity edema
- loss of consciousness
- palpitations caused by irregular heartbeat
- abdominal pain due to swollen liver ~ tricuspid valve problem
- hypotension or high blood pressure ~ depends on which valve diseased
Because your heart has to pump much harder, either to force blood through a valve that doesn’t open wide or make up for the blood that backwashes through a valve that doesn’t close tightly, many of these symptoms mimic those of heart failure.
Over time, you may develop congestive heart failure, cardiomyopathy, arrhythmia, blood clots and ischemia because of your heart valve disease.
Treatment varies contingent on how your heart valve is damaged. In some cases, the only treatment required for heart valve disease may be careful health care supervision. Other heart valve damage treatment options consist of medication, surgical repair of valve or heart valve replacement.
Medications used to treat heart valve damage include:
- diuretics ~ control blood pressure by excess water removal
- vasodilators ~ relax blood vessels to decrease force against heart pumping
- beta-blockers, digoxin, calcium channel blockers ~ reduce symptoms by controlling heart rate & fibrillation
When surgery is necessary, then treatment of your valve may be repairing or replacing. Heart valve repairing treatment involves:
- remodeling valve tissue that’s enlarged
- cutting scarred flaps so they open easier
- inserting prosthetic rings to help narrow a dilated valve
Heart valve replacement treatment may use biological tissue or artificial material. For some cases of pulmonary stenosis and aortic stenosis, balloon valvuloplasty may be the best form of valve damage treatment.
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