Valvular Heart Disease

 

 

The heart valves are indespensible structures in the heart, and their involvement by disease can range from unimportant to fatal, depending on degree, rate of development, and compensatory mechanisms.

 

Stenosis is a failure to completely open the valve, reducing flow.

Regurgitation, or insufficiency, is failure of a valve to close completely allowing backward flow. Functional regurgitation results from dilation of the heart or arteries, rather than direct problems with the valves.

Both can occur together as well.

 

Valvular problems can impact organs both proximally and distally. The most important are cardiac hypertrophy and the accompanying pulmonary and systemic changes.

 

The most common valvular problems are acquired aortic and mitral stenoses, accounting for almost 2/3 of all valve disease.

 

Calcification

Heart valves experience high repetitive mechanical stresses, particularly at hinge points, due to the over 40 million cardiac cycles they experience each year, the substantial deformations they undergo, and the pressure gradients when closed. This can lead to damage complicated by calcium phosphate deposits.