What are Heart Valve Diseases? How to Treat?

There are 4 valves in the heart. These are the mitral valve, located between the left atrium and left ventricle on the side of the heart, the tricuspid valve, located between the right atrium and right ventricle on the right side of the heart, the pulmonary valve, through which dirty blood passes after the right ventricle to be cleaned with oxygen, and the aorta, where clean blood passes from the left ventricle before being distributed to the whole body. It is the cover.

Rheumatic heart valve disease, which is the most common disease and the most common cause, occurs especially in people who have had throat infections a lot at a young age. The valves most commonly affected are the mitral valve, aortic and tricuspid valves. Although these valves may cause symptoms at a young age, they are often ignored. The reason is that the symptoms it gives are shortness of breath and palpitations. Shortness of breath due to weight and smoking is generally ignored, so people do not go to the doctor. Therefore, heart valves never come to mind. Defect of this heart valve can cause stenosis or complete melting due to calcification, causing failure. Sometimes it causes both stenosis and insufficiency.

While the patient's shortness of breath is ignored, the patient may suspect his heart disease when palpitations begin. However, since these heart valve diseases are insidious, it may be too late. Therefore, if there is shortness of breath or a feeling of palpitation in the heart, such as heart palpitations, heart examinations must be performed. As a result of these examinations, if heart valve stenosis or leakage, which is sometimes detected very early, is detected early, it may be possible to repair it. Today, these repairs are minimally invasive, with very small incisions, where the valve can be repaired 4 centimeters from under the arm, without cutting any bones. Sometimes, if it has progressed, it can be changed. Whichever the case, early diagnosis of heart valve diseases is very important. Because heart valve diseases progress insidiously and their symptoms usually do not bring to mind heart diseases.