Valve Repair or Replacement
Aortic valve repair or replacement is surgery to fix the aortic valve in your heart. The heart has two upper chambers or rooms called atria, and two lower chambers called ventricles. The atria get blood from the body. Blood in the atria goes through valves (doors) into the ventricles. The job of the valves is to keep the blood flowing in one direction through the heart. Your aortic valve is between your left ventricle and aorta. The aorta is the large blood vessel that carries blood from the heart to the body. In most people, the aortic valve is made up of three smaller doors or cusps attached to the aortic ring. The cusps come from each side and the top of the aortic ring and meet in the middle.
The two reasons for an aortic valve replacement are aortic regurgitation and aortic stenosis.
Aortic regurgitation means that one or more of the cusps in the aortic valve do not close completely. The cusps may bulge into the ventricles when the ventricles are filling with blood during a heart beat. When this happens, blood leaks backward.
Stenosis means narrow or tight. When the aortic valve has a stenosis, it cannot let all the blood in the atrium get into the ventricle.
Both aortic regurgitation and aortic stenosis cause blood to stay in the atrium. Over time, blood will back up into the lungs and your heart may begin to weaken and fail. Your body needs a certain amount of blood, with the right amount of things like oxygen, in it. If you have heart failure, your heart cannot send the right amount or type of blood to your body. During surgery, your aortic valve is removed and replaced with a human, animal or man-made mechanical valve.
|
|
