heart and blood vessel disorders
Overview of Heart Valve Disorders
Heart valve malfunction
The heart valves can malfunction by Leaking (termed regurgitation, incompetence, or insufficiency) Not opening adequately and thus partially blocking the flow of blood through the valve (termed stenosis) Either problem can greatly interfere with the heart's ability to pump blood. Sometimes a valve has both problems. Faulty valves generally create murmurs and other abnormal heart sounds that a doctor can hear with a stethoscope. Faulty valves can be identified by using echocardiography. Often, minor degrees of regurgitation are not detected with a stethoscope but are detected during echocardiography. Doctors often regard some murmurs they hear and some minor regurgitation they observe with echocardiography as this is a normal finding. Most faulty valves are not severely abnormal, and they do not affect the person in any way. Symptoms may include Swelling , Doctors often do periodic check-ups because a few faulty valves worsen over time to the point where intervention (repair or replacement) is required to decrease symptoms or prolong survival. Symptoms are not a reliable guide to the existence and severity of valve problems, so Echocardiography and Other Ultrasound Procedures (ultrasonography of the heart) is used to detect problems early. Sometimes doctors use The heart valves can malfunction either by leaking (causing regurgitation) or by not opening adequately and thus partially blocking the flow of blood through the valve (causing stenosis). Stenosis and regurgitation can affect any of the heart valves. These two disorders are shown below affecting the mitral valve. Normally, just after the left ventricle finishes contracting and starts to relax and fill with blood again (during diastole), the aortic valve closes, the mitral valve opens, and some blood flows from the left atrium into the left ventricle. Then the left atrium contracts, ejecting more blood into the left ventricle. As the left ventricle begins to contract (during systole), the mitral valve closes, the aortic valve opens, and blood is ejected into the aorta. In mitral stenosis, the mitral valve opening is narrowed, and blood flow from the left atrium into the left ventricle during diastole is reduced. In mitral regurgitation, the mitral valve leaks when the left ventricle contracts (during systole), and some blood flows backward into the left atrium. 