| A leaking heart valve fortunately, does not always | | | | severity of the murmur he or she hears, your GP may |
| mean valve surgery. And, heart valve surgery, if it | | | | refer you to a cardiologist. |
| becomes necessary, does not always have to mean | | | | The cardiologist's diagnosis will probably include one or |
| that you'll need an open-heart surgery. | | | | more of the following tests: |
| In fact, most people with a leaking valve disorder, are | | | | - an electrocardiogram (ECG), a test that measures |
| totally unaware of their valvular disease. Their mildly | | | | the electrical activity of your heart to see how well it is |
| leaking valve condition goes undetected because it just | | | | working |
| never progresses to the point of needing treatment. | | | | - an echocardiogram, an ultrasound scan that |
| Symptoms which might indicate that your leaking heart | | | | produces a picture of the inside of your heart |
| valve also called valve regurgitation is worsening to the | | | | - a chest X-ray |
| point of needing some form of treatment are: | | | | - a heart cath, a small tube (catheter) is threaded up to |
| unexplained fatigue, shortness-of-breath especially | | | | your heart through an artery - usually in your groin. A |
| when you exert yourself, heart palpitations, an | | | | dye that shows up on X-rays is injected into your |
| awareness of your heart beat, fluttery or irregular | | | | blood stream and X-rays are taken to produce an |
| heart beat, chest pain also referred to as angina, | | | | image of the blood flowing through your heart |
| dizziness or fainting, and swollen ankles or feet. | | | | - a cardiac CT scan that uses X-rays to make a |
| The heart valves are made to move your blood | | | | three-dimensional image of your heart. |
| through your heart in one direction. When there is | | | | If these tests show that your have a severely leaking |
| valve leakage, the valve leaflets fail to close properly, | | | | heart valve, then, you will probably require some form |
| and some of the blood is regurgitated backwards in | | | | of heart surgery. When possible, heart valve repair |
| the wrong direction. | | | | surgery is always preferable to valve replacement |
| In severe heart valve leakage or regurgitation, the | | | | surgery because your own heart tissue is being used |
| heart has to work much harder to re-pump the blood | | | | to make the repair; however, if you need a valve |
| back through your heart and into your body. This | | | | replacement, the artificial and pig valves are |
| "over-work" causes enlargement of the heart. | | | | overwhelmingly successful. |
| If you begin to notice that your normal everyday | | | | As of this writing, the only approved option for treating |
| activities are tiring you out, and you're experiencing one | | | | severely leaking heart valves is open-heart surgery |
| or more of the symptoms we've already mentioned, it | | | | with heart-lung bypass. But, if your problem is a leaking |
| may be time for you to visit your Doctor or | | | | mitral valve, you just might be in luck, some 30 |
| cardiologist. | | | | hospitals across North America are now participating in |
| For example, do you notice that walking up your drive | | | | an FDA-approved clinical study of an experimental |
| to the mail box is exhausting, or maybe just bending | | | | device for repairing a leaking mitral valve, which does |
| over to take clothes from the dryer causes chest pain, | | | | NOT require open-heart surgery. |
| or do you experience breathlessness just from being | | | | This is truly exciting news! Amazingly, this minimally |
| outdoors the heat? These could all be signs of heart | | | | invasive procedure can repair a leaking mitral heart |
| valve disease. | | | | valve while the heart is still beating. In this |
| Your GP can listen to your heart with a stethoscope. | | | | FDA-approved clinical study, an experimental device |
| Often, just listening to your heart can tell your Doctor if | | | | and procedure use a catheter inserted into a vein in |
| you have a heart murmur. Depending upon the | | | | the groin. |