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In this Article

• What is valvular heart disease?
• How do heart valves work?
• What are the types of valve disease?
• What causes valvular heart disease?
• What are the symptoms of valve disease?
• How are valve diseases diagnosed?
• How is heart valve disease treated?
• Living with valve disease
• Patient Comments: Heart Valve Disease - Symptoms
• Find a local Cardiologist in your town
• Heart Valve Disease Index

• Shortness of breath and/or difficulty catching your breath. You may notice this most when you are active (doing your normal daily activities) or when you lie down flat in bed. You may need to sleep propped up on a few pillows to breathe easier.
  
  
• Weakness or dizziness. You may feel too weak to carry out your normal daily activities. Dizziness can also occur, and in some cases, passing out may be a symptom.
  
  
• Discomfort in your chest. You may feel a pressure or weight in your chest with activity or when going out in cold air.
  
  
• Palpitations. This may feel like a rapid heart rhythm, irregular heartbeat, skipped beats or a flip-flop feeling in your chest.
  
  
• Swelling of your ankles, feet or abdomen. This is called edema. Swelling may occur in your belly, which may cause you to feel bloated.
  
  
• Rapid weight gain. A weight gain of two or three pounds in one day is possible.

Symptoms do not always relate to the seriousness of your valve disease. You may have no symptoms at all and have severe valve disease, requiring prompt treatment. Or, as with mitral valve prolapse, you may have severe symptoms, yet tests may show your valve leak is not significant.

Your heart doctor can tell if you have valve disease by talking to you about your symptoms, performing a physical exam, and giving you other tests.

During a physical exam, your doctor will listen to your heart to hear the sounds the heart makes as the valves open and close. A murmur is a swishing sound made by blood flowing through a stenotic or leaky valve. Your doctor can also tell if your heart is enlarged or if your heart rhythm is irregular.

The doctor will listen to your lungs to hear if you are retaining fluid in your lungs, which shows your heart is not able to pump as well as it should.

By examining your body, the doctor can find clues about your circulation and the functioning of your other organs.

After the physical exam, the doctor may order diagnostic tests. These may include:

• Echocardiography
• Transesophageal echocardiography
• Cardiac catheterization (also called an angiogram)
• Radionuclide scans
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

By looking at the results, repeated over time, your doctor can also see the progress of your valve disease. This will help him or her make decisions about your treatment.

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