Heart Valve Diseases

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Basics

• Summary
• Start Here
• Diagnosis and Tests
• Prevention and Risk Factors
• Treatments and Therapies

Learn More

• Living With
• Related Issues
• Specifics
• Genetics

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Research

• Statistics and Research
• Clinical Trials
• Journal Articles

Resources

• Reference Desk
• Find an Expert

For You

• Children
• Patient Handouts

Summary

Your heart has four valves. Normally, these valves open to let blood flow through or out of your heart, and then shut to keep it from flowing backward. But sometimes they don't work properly. If they don't, you could have

• Regurgitation - when blood leaks back through the valve in the wrong direction
• Mitral valve prolapse - when one of the valves, the mitral valve, has "floppy" flaps and doesn't close tightly. It's one of the most common heart valve conditions. Sometimes it causes regurgitation.
• Stenosis - when the valve doesn't open enough and blocks blood flow

Valve problems can be present at birth or caused by infections, heart attacks, or heart disease or damage. The main sign of heart valve disease is an unusual heartbeat sound called a heart murmur. Your doctor can hear a heart murmur with a stethoscope. But many people have heart murmurs without having a problem. Heart tests can show if you have a heart valve disease. Some valve problems are minor and do not need treatment. Others might require medicine, medical procedures, or surgery to repair or replace the valve.

NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Start Here

• Understanding Heart Valve Problems and Causes (American Heart Association)
• Valve Disease (Texas Heart Institute) Also in Spanish
• Valvular Heart Disease (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• What Is Heart Valve Disease? (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

Diagnosis and Tests

• Heart Health Tests: MedlinePlus Health Topic (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Heart Murmurs and Valve Disease (American Heart Association)

Prevention and Risk Factors

• Risks for Heart Valve Problems (American Heart Association)

Treatments and Therapies

• Medications for Heart Valve Symptoms (American Heart Association)
• Newer Heart Valve Surgery Options (American Heart Association)
• Options for Heart Valve Replacement (American Heart Association)
• Valve Repair or Replacement (Texas Heart Institute) Also in Spanish
• What Is Heart Valve Surgery? (American Heart Association) - PDF Also in Spanish
• What Is TAVR? (American Heart Association)

Living With

• Heart Valve Surgery Recovery and Follow Up (American Heart Association)
• Recognizing the Symptoms of Worsening Heart Valve Disease (American Heart Association)
• What to Expect After Heart Surgery (Society of Thoracic Surgeons) - PDF

Related Issues

• Rheumatic Fever (Texas Heart Institute) Also in Spanish

Specifics

• Aortic Calcification: An Early Sign of Heart Valve Problems? (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
• Aortic Valve Disease (Society of Thoracic Surgeons)
• Aortic Valve Regurgitation (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
• Aortic Valve Stenosis (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
• Diseases of the Tricuspid Valve (Texas Heart Institute) Also in Spanish
• Mitral Regurgitation (Beyond the Basics) (UpToDate)
• Mitral Valve Disease (Society of Thoracic Surgeons)
• Mitral Valve Stenosis (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
• Problem: Heart Valve Regurgitation (American Heart Association)
• Problem: Heart Valve Stenosis (American Heart Association)
• Pulmonary Valve Stenosis (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
• What Is a Heart Murmur? (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

Genetics

• Genetics Home Reference: geleophysic dysplasia (National Library of Medicine)
• Genetics Home Reference: X-linked cardiac valvular dysplasia (National Library of Medicine)

Statistics and Research

• Valvular Heart Disease (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Aortic Valve Stenosis (National Institutes of Health)
• ClinicalTrials.gov: Heart Murmurs (National Institutes of Health)
• ClinicalTrials.gov: Heart Valve Diseases (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: 2019 AATS/ACC/SCAI/STS expert consensus systems of care document: Operator and institutional...
• Article: Preoperative Planning for Structural Heart Disease.
• Article: Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Era.
• Heart Valve Diseases -- see more articles
• Heart valve replacement -- see more articles

Reference Desk

• Heart and Stroke Encyclopedia (American Heart Association)
• How the Heart Works (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

Find an Expert

• American Heart Association
• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Children

• Heart Murmurs (For Kids) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• Heart Murmurs and Your Child (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Patient Handouts

• Aortic insufficiency (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Aortic Stenosis (Medical Encyclopedia) - In English and Spanish Also in Spanish
• Aortic valve surgery - minimally invasive (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Aortic valve surgery - open (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Bicuspid aortic valve (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Heart murmurs and other sounds (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Heart valve surgery (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Tricuspid regurgitation (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish