Table of Contents:
- What is valve disease?
- What are the symptoms of valve disease?
- Causes of valve disease?
- Can valve disease be prevented?
- Treatments for valve disease
What is valve disease?
Valvular heart disease encompasses all diseases affecting the heart valves. These pathologies affect the aortic and mitral valves on the left side and the pulmonary and tricuspid valves on the right side of the heart. If they worsen and are left untreated, they can affect the correct blood flow to the heart and cause serious cardiac problems.
Valvulopathies are distinguished into three groups depending on their severity:
- Mild valvulopathy: this is a mild disorder that does not require treatment; it is sufficient to maintain follow-up with the cardiologist.
- Moderate valvulopathy: requires exhaustive follow-up and in some cases the patient needs treatment.
- Severe valve disease: usually requires surgical treatment, in many cases to replace the affected valve.
What are the symptoms of valve disease?
Symptoms will vary depending on the valve disease, but generally the patient will experience shortness of breath, chest pain and loss of consciousness on exertion.
Valvular heart disease is a typical disease of the heart valves.
of the heart valves
Causes of valve disease
Valvulopathies can be congenital or acquired. The cause of valve disease varies depending on the type of involvement: whether it is a stenosis, a loss of the valve’s ability to close, or a prolapse.
Most aortic stenosis stems from a congenital disorder that is usually detected in childhood, but in some cases goes undetected until adulthood. It also occurs due to valve degeneration with advancing age, senile calcification, valve fibrosis or rheumatic aortic stenosis.
Most cases of mitral stenosis are caused by rheumatic heart disease, especially in women.
Can valve diseases be prevented?
Many of the valvulopathies cannot be avoided, but there are measures to prevent them, such as going to the cardiologist’s office in time to treat possible heart diseases, maintaining an adequate diet and physical activity to have a healthy heart.
Treatments for valvular heart disease
Treatment will depend on the type of valve disease and the degree of severity. In severe cases of aortic stenosis, the most common is the need for surgery to replace the valve. In the case of severe insufficiency, an operation is also performed to reconstruct the valve or replace it. On the other hand, if the valve is affected, treatment with antibiotics against the bacteria and germs that have caused it will generally be received in order to prevent it from worsening.
In any case, it is necessary to consult with the Cardiology specialist about the symptoms in order to determine the best treatment to diagnose.