Valvular Heart Disease
Heart Valve Disease
There are four valves in your heart; the tricuspid, pulmonary, mitral and aortic. Each is made of thin (but strong) flaps of tissue that open and close as your heart pumps. Blood is pumped through your heart in one direction and the heart valves play a key role in this one-way blood flow, opening and closing with each heartbeat. Pressure changes on either side of the valves cause them to open their cusps or leaflets at just the right time, then close tightly to prevent a backflow of blood.
Valvular heart disease occurs when your heart's valves do not work correctly causing the heart muscle to work harder in order to circulate the right amount of blood through the body. Valve disease can eventually lead to congestive heart failure or CHF. There are generally two types of problems that can disrupt blood flow though the valves: stenosis or regurgitation.
Stenosis occurs when the leaflets thicken, stiffen, or fuse together narrowing the valve opening and reducing the amount of blood that can flow through it. Because of the narrowed valve, the heart must work harder but its ability to function is reduced and the rest of the body may not receive adequate blood flow.
Regurgitation also called insufficiency, incompetence or leaky valve, happens when the leaflets of the valve do not close properly and blood leaks backward instead of moving in the proper one-way flow. Once too much blood flows backward and only a small amount can move forward to the body's organs, the heart will try to compensate for this reduced blood flow by working harder. Over time the heart will become enlarged and less cable of pumping blood through your body resulting in heart failure.
What causes valve disease?
Valve disease can be congenital (present at birth) or may be acquired later in life and there are a variety of causes.
- Congenital valve disease is an abnormality that develops before birth. It may be related to improper valve size, malformed leaflets, or an irregularity in the way the leaflets are attached. This most often affects the aortic or pulmonic valve.
- Aging can make valves weaken or harden this is called myxomatous degeneration. It most commonly affects the mitral valve.
- Calcific degeneration is a buildup of calcium usually on the aortic or mitral valves which causes the valves to thicken.
- Medication induced from the use of the anti-obesity medicines fen-phen and Redux, which were removed from the market after being linked to heart valve disease.
- Infection in the lining of the heart's walls and valves also called infective endocarditis.
- Coronary artery disease
- Heart attack
- Rheumatic heart disease
