The narrowing of the aortic valve in your heart is called Aortic Stenosis.
This condition declines the pace of blood flow and irregular blood pumping. Aortic Stenosis has multiple health hazards, and many of them are so minute that they often go unnoticed. The treatment for this condition depends on its severity.
In this blog — we will discuss the meaning, symptoms, risk factors, and cure for the various diseases caused by Aortic Stenosis.
As stated above, Aortic Stenosis is the narrowing of the aortic valve in the heart. Learning about this condition and its prevention can be beneficial in early treatment and may even extend your lifespan.
What is Aortic Stenosis?
The heart has two blood-pumping chambers called the ventricles.
The left ventricle is the main pumping chamber of the heart. When your heart beats and its muscles contract — it releases the oxygenated blood into the left ventricle through the opening of the aortic valve. The blood is distributed throughout the body traveling through the main artery called the aorta.
The heart valves may have problems in the opening (Stenosis in scientific terms) or closing (Mitral Regurgitation in scientific terms), or both in some cases.
In the case of Aortic Stenosis, the aortic valves fail to open completely. This results in turbulence in the blood flow through the valve, which is observable as a heart murmur. It creates excessive pressure on the left ventricle, eventually leading to heart failure.
We will further discuss the causes, symptoms, and effects of Aortic Stenosis.
What causes Aortic Stenosis, and What Are the Symptoms of It?
There are four valves in the heart that keep the blood flowing in the required direction. Named as the Mitral Valve, Tricuspid Valve, Pulmonary Valve, and Aortic Valve — each valve has flaps, known as cusps or leaflets, that open and close at each heartbeat. Sometimes these flaps don’t open or close properly. This cycle causes a reduction in speed or blockage in the blood flow.
In Aortic Valve Stenosis, the Aortic Valve (lying between the lower left heart chamber and the Aorta) malfunctions to open completely.
When the opening of the Aortic Valve narrows, the heart starts to pump harder to deliver enough blood to the Aorta and the rest of the body. The extra strain that the heart puts in to deliver blood to the body causes the left ventricle to thicken. And this stress eventually leads to a weakened heart — resulting in heart failure.
The Primary Causes leading to Aortic Valve Stenosis are:
- Inbred Heart Defect: Some people are born with such conditions. They might have solely two cusps (Bicuspid Aortic Valve. In rare conditions, some individuals may even have one cusp (Unicuspid Aortic Valve) or four cusps (Quadricuspid Aortic Valve). Having less than three cusps may even result in the malfunctioning of the aortic valve.
- Calcium Build-Up: Because the blood continuously flows through the aortic valve, it is likely for the calcium running in the blood to cling to the walls of the valve. This condition is called Aortic Valve Calcification. This does not hinder blood flow or cause any other problems in the younger generation; it only shows its effect at the age of 70 to 80.
- Rheumatic Fever: Strep throat infection causes scar tissue to build upon the aortic valve. Scar tissues narrow the valve opening and also create a coarse surface for the calcium to build up. Rheumatic fever can damage more than one heart valve.
The most common symptoms of Aortic Valve Stenosis are:
These symptoms mainly occur when the condition is severe and might not be noticeable for a long period of time. The most common symptoms are mentioned below:
- Chest pain or tightness with activity.
- Shortness of breath and difficulty in breathing.
- Starving oneself.
- Feeling dizzy or frequent episodes of fainting.
- Quick, fluttering heartbeats.
- Feeling fatigued during any activity.
- Heart murmurs (heard through the Stethoscope).
How is Aortic Stenosis treated?
Aortic Valve Stenosis should be properly assisted and monitored by a cardiologist. It can be quite risky when having reached the chronic stage. Nevertheless, this condition can be treated.
There are two kinds of treatments that can be given to the sufferers of Aortic Valve Stenosis. Those are explained below:
- Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement: This is an open-heart surgery in which the patient’s aortic valve is removed and a substitute valve made out of other tissues or metal is fixed in the place of the former.
- Transcathereter Aortic Valve Replacement: Abbreviated as TAVR or TAVI, this is a minutely invasive surgery (like Heart Catheterization) — where pictures of the heart blood vessels are taken, known as Coronary Artery Angiography. In this procedure, your primary valve is replaced by a surrogate valve made out of other tissues of your body called the bioprosthetic valve.
Treatment depends on the severity of the condition and the preference of the patient. It is very important for the patient to take help of a certified cardiologist, no matter what stage of Aortic Valve Stenosis they are in.
Every stage of this condition needs to be monitored and guided through.
Thus, seek medical help as soon as possible.
Contact me right away.
Remember: The more you are informed — the better your lifestyle will be!
