Heart valve diseases can impact any one of the heart's valves structure and functioning. The underlying problem may be a narrowing of the valve opening (stenosis), regurgitation (blood seeping), or a combination of both the reasons. This can alter the blood flow mechanics in the heart as well as blood flow in the rest of the body.
Heart valve disorders can sometimes cause no symptoms at all in the patients. On the other hand, if left untreated, it can lead to heart failure with gradually worsening symptoms. This may result in a fatal ventricular arrhythmia, which depends on how poorly your heart is pumping.
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What are Types of Heart Valve Diseases?
Following are the different types of heart valve disease:- Valvular Stenosis: The tissues that make up the valve leaflets stiffen in valvular stenosis, which narrow down the valve opening and lowers the volume of blood that can pass through it. A slight narrowing might not impair your heart's ability to beat as a whole. But sometimes the valve narrows to such an extent (stenotic) that the heart has to work harder to pump blood through it, which strains the heart muscles. This may result in shortage of blood flow in the rest of the body.
- Valvular Insufficiency: The term "leaky valve" refers to regurgitation, incompetence, or valve insufficiency, which occurs when the leaflets fail to close all the way, allowing blood to flow backward through the valve. "Regurgitant flow" is the term used to describe this reverse flow. Our body may receive less blood flow as a result of your heart having to work harder to compensate for this backward flow. If you have mitral valve prolapse, a common condition where the valve flaps return to your left atrium during a heartbeat, you may experience a backward flow.
- Valvular Atresia: An improperly formed heart valve at birth results in valve atresia. Usually, this is identified very early in a baby's life.
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What are Symptoms of Heart Valve Diseases?
People who have heart valve disease often experience no symptoms. However, your heart beats faster to compensate for the decreased blood flow when the heart valve issue gets worse. The following symptoms may start to show up as heart valve disease worsens over time:- Shortness of breath during physical activity or resting posture or lying down.
- Palpitations or skipped beats
- Edema or swelling due to water retention in the ankles, feet. or abdomen
- Weakness
- Dizziness
- Rapid weight gain
- Chest discomfort
- Excessive fatigue
Symptoms of infectious valve disease:
- Fever
- Chills
- Body aches
What are the Causes of Heart Valve Diseases?
Following are the common causes of heart valve disease:- Strep throat: Rheumatic fever may occur if strep throat is left untreated
- Heart attack: This may damage your heart valve structure.
- Birth defects: Such defects which may impair the heart valve functioning
- Degeneration or calcification of the valve tissue: This results in loss of valve function over the time
- Thoracic aortic aneurysm: This causes dilation of the aorta, resulting in over-stretching of the aortic valve leaflets, resulting in leakage
- Heart failure: It may increase the load on heart valves, causing their malfunctioning
- Heart valve infection: Infection in your heart valves may result in infective endocarditis
What are the Complications of Heart Valve Diseases?
Following are the complications that may arise from Heart valve diseases:- Heart failure
- Blood clots
- Stroke
- Heart rhythm abnormalities
- Death
Diagnosis of Heart Valve Diseases
Following are the tests that are prescribed to make heart valve disease diagnosis:- Echocardiogram (heart ultrasound)
- Transesophageal echocardiogram
- Exercise stress echocardiogram
- Chest X-ray
- Cardiac catheterization or angiogram
- Electrocardiogram
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
- Treatment of Heart Valve Diseases
- Medicines: Some heart valve patients may require only medications to manage their symptoms. To help avoid blood clots, blood thinners may be administered.
- Surgery: A surgeon may perform valve replacement or repair concurrently depending upon your condition. Open heart surgery and minimally invasive heart surgery are two techniques used to replace or repair heart valves. Robotic heart valve surgery is an advanced procedure to treat heart valve diseases. Numerous factors, such as age, general health, and the kind and extent of heart valve damage, influence the type of heart valve surgery that is performed.
- Heart Valve Repair: Your medical team may recommend surgery to preserve and repair your heart valve if you have heart valve disorder. It is of two types:
- Annuloplasty: The outer ring surrounding the valve is strengthened or tightened by a surgeon. In order to repair a heart valve, this surgery may be combined with other therapies.
- Valvuloplasty: The purpose of this procedure is to fix the valve flaps. The repair of mitral valve prolapse is a common procedure. A flexible tube with a balloon at the tip is inserted into an artery by the surgeon. The tube is guided to the damaged heart valve. Then the balloon is inflated to pen the valve wide.
- Heart valve replacement: Heart valve replacement surgery may be necessary if repair is not possible. The aortic and mitral valves are the ones that are replaced most often. The damaged heart valve is removed by a surgeon, who then installs a mechanical or biological valve in its place. Open heart surgery is usually required for valve replacement. However, based on which heart valve is impacted, less invasive treatments might be offered. For instance, surgeons may perform transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) if the aortic valve is narrowed. Compared to open heart surgery, fewer incisions are made during this procedure.
Conclusion
Heart valve disease can be managed with medication and/or surgery, even though it is a disease that lasts a lifetime. You can discuss the best course of action for your circumstances with your doctor. You can eat heart-healthy foods, increase your physical activity, and abstain from tobacco use. Make sure you attend all of your follow-up appointments and continue taking any prescribed medication. Choose Asian Heart Institute for right and prompt heart treatment if you suspect that you or your loved ones might be suffering from heart valve disease.FAQs
Q1: Which heart valve condition is the most prevalent?A: The most prevalent valve abnormality is mitral regurgitation (MR), which is followed by aortic stenosis (AS) and aortic regurgitation (AR).
Q2: How serious is heart valve disease?
A: A heart's ability to pump enough blood throughout the body may be hampered when heart valves don't open and close correctly, which can have major consequences.
Q3: Is it possible for a heart valve to heal itself?
A: A heart valve cannot mend itself. Valve disease is incurable. With time, it gets worse. Your general health will deteriorate and you'll experience more symptoms as the disease worsens.
