The most commonly treated heart valve problems involve the aortic and mitral valves, including:
- Aortic stenosis: narrowing of the aortic valve which interferes with the ejection of blood from the heart to the rest of the body;
- Mitral regurgitation: reversal of blood flow back across the mitral valve, causing the lungs to become congested and creating significant shortness of breath.
Both of these conditions may be due to degeneration of the basic valve structures with age, or they may be related to rheumatic fever in early childhood, connective tissue diseases, infections, etc. Treatment of the medical condition is as important as correcting the valve problem.
Heart valves can be affected by other, less well known conditions, but seen more frequently due to better methods of detections, including:
- Tricuspid regurgitation: reversal of blood flow interfering with the body’s ability to fill the heart, which can create significant leg and sometimes abdominal swelling. This condition may accompany mitral valve malfunction, and would be addressed surgically at the same time.
- Pulmonary valve: rarely needs to be treated by an adult cardiac surgeon, since it may have been deformed congenitally and is usually taken care of in childhood.