Info About Aortic Valve Stenosis and Heart Valve Replacement Surgery

Facing a decision of whether to have surgery or not is concerning enough in itself.  However, when it is related to your heart, it carries even more weight and concern.  If you’ve been diagnosed with aortic valve stenosis, you perhaps considering whether heart valve replacement surgery is the proper choice for your situation.  Nonetheless, to make an educated decision, one must understand what aortic stenosis is and how it is affecting your heart and body. 

The aortic valve controls the flow of oxygenated blood from the left ventricle into the aorta.  The aorta is the biggest vessel in the body which transports blood from within to the body and it’s main organs.  When one develops aortic valve stenosis, the opening that permits the blood to flow from the heart into the aorta starts to narrow.  This narrowing causes the heart ( particularly the left ventricle ) to compensate by working/pumping harder to maintain blood flow from the heart in to the body.  Without treatment (like heart valve replacement) the left ventricle will increase in size and thickness because of the added stress of working against the narrow opening.  The heart itself may only be able to support this self-induced compensatory action for a period of years, left untreated it’ll eventually give way to heart failure. 

The progression of aortic valve stenosis is comparatively slow.  Many people may have trivial cases of aortic stenosis, but with the body’s ability to compensate, may not realize they’ve a problem till symptoms of this disorder occur.  Symptoms that go with aortic stenosis and at last lead to heart valve replacement include chest pain particularly with exercise, intense dizziness following activity, irregular pulse rate, pulsations and/or trouble breathing.  After symptoms happen, the sole true treatment is surgery.  These symptoms indicate that damage to the valve has occurred and the consultation about replacement is critical. 

While most physicians agree that it is better to hang about for surgical intervention till symptoms develop, there are the few people that may gain benefit from heart valve replacement before symptom show.  Folks that suffer from aortic stenosis run a higher chance of unexpected death due to the chance of heart failure.  However, indications of heart failure usually precede a fatal event.  However, there is a low number of folk that can suffer from severe stenosis without presenting with symptoms.  One indicator may be linked to people that develop low blood pressure during or following exercise.  This can suggest possible aortic valve stenosis and these people should seek medical advice as fast as possible.  The decision about surgery will be a combined effort between the patient and the varied expert physicians planning and implementing the hospital treatment.

 

 

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