What are the Heart Valves?
What are the Heart Valves?Your heart is a powerful pump, and the four heart valves are essential parts inside it. These valves are flexible structures that open and close with every heartbeat to ensure blood flows in the correct direction. Their main job is to open fully to let blood pass through and then close tightly to prevent any blood from leaking backward.
If a valve doesn't close properly, you might have a leaky heart valve, which causes the heart to work harder. This rhythmic opening and closing allow oxygen-rich blood to reach your entire body efficiently, creating the familiar "lub-dub" sound heard by doctors when listening to your heart. When a valve becomes too damaged to work properly, a procedure like heart valve replacement may be needed to restore normal blood flow.
The Four Valves and What They Do
Your heart has four heart valves, each with a specific location and role in regulating blood flow:
- Tricuspid Valve: Located on the right side of the heart, this valve opens to let blood flow from the upper chamber (right atrium) into the lower pumping chamber (right ventricle).
- Pulmonary Valve (or Pulmonic Valve): This valve is the pathway that opens to let blood leave the right ventricle and travel to the lungs to pick up oxygen.
- Mitral Valve: Located on the left side of the heart, this valve allows oxygenated blood coming from the lungs to flow from the upper chamber (left atrium) down into the powerful main pumping chamber (left ventricle).
- Aortic Valve: This is the final and most critical release point. It controls the flow of oxygen-rich blood leaving the left ventricle and heading out to the body's largest artery, the aorta, for distribution to the rest of your body.
What is Heart Valve Disease?
What is Heart Valve Disease?Heart valve disease refers to a problem where one or more of your heart's four valves aren't working the way they should. As the core structures that keep blood flowing forward, properly functioning heart valves are critical. When a valve is damaged, it can either fail to open wide enough to let blood through, or it fails to close tightly, allowing blood to leak backward, a condition called a leaky heart valve.
When your valves don't work properly, your heart has to pump harder to make up the difference. Over time, this extra effort can weaken the heart muscle, potentially leading to serious complications like heart failure. Depending on the extent of the damage, a doctor may recommend monitoring, medication, or a procedure like heart valve replacement.
How Heart Valve Disease Affects the Heart
Heart valve disease generally falls into two main categories:
- Stenosis (A Narrowed Valve):
- The valve flaps become stiff, thick, or fused.
- This causes the valve opening to become narrow, restricting the amount of blood that can flow out of the heart chamber.
- The heart must pump with increased force to push blood through the small opening.
- Regurgitation (A Leaky Valve):
- The valve flaps do not close completely or snap shut tightly.
- This allows blood to flow backward, which is known as a leaky heart valve.
- The heart has to pump the same blood volume repeatedly to move it forward, forcing it to work harder and increasing the risk of over-stretching the heart muscle.
Types of Heart Valve Disease
TypesTypes of heart valve disease include:
- Valve stenosis (narrowing). Stiffening of heart valves causes the valve opening to narrow and restricts blood flow to other heart parts.
- Tricuspid valve stenosis affects blood flow from the right atrium to the right ventricle.
- Pulmonary valve stenosis affects blood flow from the right ventricle to the lungs through the pulmonary artery.
- Mitral valve stenosis affects blood flow from the left atrium to the left ventricle.
- Aortic valve stenosis affects blood flow from the left ventricle to the aorta, the main artery to the body, and the supply of oxygen-rich blood to the rest of the body may be restricted.
- Regurgitation (leaking) happens when a valve does not close correctly, allowing blood to flow backward.
- Tricuspid valve regurgitation is caused when blood pumped forward from the right ventricle to the lungs leaks backward into the right atrium, and the atrium may become enlarged.
- Pulmonary valve regurgitation. When the pulmonary valve does not close entirely, blood can leak back from the lungs into the heart.
- Mitral valve regurgitation Blood leaks from the left ventricle (lower left chamber) backward into the left atrium through the mitral valve.
- Aortic valve regurgitation happens when oxygen-rich blood leaks backward from the aorta through the aortic valve back to the left ventricle.
- Valve prolapse (slipping out of place). A condition in which the valve flaps, called leaflets, are out of place or stick out. As a result, the heart valve does not close properly, and blood may leak backward through the valve, disrupting the direction of the blood flow.
- Mitral valve prolapse prevents the valve from shutting properly.
- Tricuspid, pulmonary, and aortic valve prolapse are similar to mitral valve prolapse but are less common.
- Valve atresia is a congenital disability in which a heart valve is not formed correctly. It usually requires surgeries in infancy. Adults with congenital heart valve conditions continue to be monitored and treated as needed.
- Tricuspid valve atresia is a congenital heart defect in which the tricuspid valve between the right atrium and right ventricle isn’t formed.
- Pulmonary valve atresia is a congenital heart defect of the pulmonary valve, which controls blood flow from the right ventricle through the pulmonary artery to the lungs.
- Mitral valve atresiais a rare congenital heart defect in which the heart’s mitral valve does not develop correctly.
- Aortic valve atresia is a congenital condition in which the aortic valve leaflets, the small flaps of tissue in the aortic valve, are fused at birth.
Signs & Symptoms of Heart Valve Disease
SymptomsA heart valve disease may cause no symptoms. Heart valve disease symptoms may begin over time as the condition worsens. You may experience the following symptoms:
- Heart murmur
- Chest discomfort or pain
- Fatigue
- Shortness of breath
- Palpitation - irregular heartbeat
- Dizziness or fainting
- Edema - swelling of the ankles, feet, or abdomen
What Causes Heart Valve Disease?
CausesHeart valve disease may be caused by congenital conditions (being born with it), infection, degenerative conditions progressing with age, and conditions related to other types of heart disease.
Heart valve disease causes include:
- Congenital causes
- Congenital valve heart disease can prevent the heart valves from developing correctly or prevent valve flaps (leaflets) from properly attaching to the heart.
- Marfan syndrome is a genetic disorder that affects the body’s connective tissue. People with Marfan syndrome may develop mitral valve prolapse and aortic valve regurgitation.
- Diseases and other causes
- Rheumatic fever, an inflammatory disease that can affect the heart valves if it is not treated properly
- Endocarditis, an infection of the inner lining of the heart and heart valves that is caused by a blood infection
- Heart attack
- Heart failure
- Degeneration or calcification of the valve tissue that occurs over time
- Certain medications
Risk Factors for Heart Valve Disease
Risk FactorsFactors that can increase the risk of heart valve disease include:
- Older age
- Infections that can affect the heart
- Heart attack
- Heart failure
- Conditions that increase the risk of heart disease, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, and others
Trust NewYork-Presbyterian for Heart Valve Disease Care
NewYork-Presbyterian's team of cardiologists, heart surgeons, interventional cardiologists, and cardiac imaging experts work together to customize the best care for each patient. Our medical and surgical teams provide cardiovascular care for adults and children with heart diseases and disorders.
Our heart specialists, cardiologists, and surgeons are well-informed about innovative treatment protocols and are leaders in minimally invasive heart valve repair and replacement procedures. Contact us to make an appointment.