Valvular Heart Disease

Key points

• • The heart valves keep blood flowing one way, and disease makes them either narrowed (stenosis) or leaky (regurgitation).
• • Mitral stenosis, often from past rheumatic fever, blocks flow from the left atrium and backs up into the lungs, causing breathlessness.
• • Aortic stenosis, often from age-related calcification, obstructs the outflow of the left ventricle, causing chest pain, faints and breathlessness on effort.
• • Regurgitant (leaky) valves let blood flow back, so the heart must pump extra and gradually enlarges and fails.
• • Each valve lesion gives a characteristic murmur, and they are assessed by listening and by an echocardiogram.