There are four chambers in the heart that contain blood. Two of these are in the right and the other two are in the left heart half. The blood coming to the heart first comes to the right atrium (9) and from there passes to the right ventricle (10) through the tricuspid (15) valve. It passes from the right ventricle to the lungs for oxygenation through the pulmonary valve (17). The oxygen-enriched blood comes to the left atrium (11) located on the left side of the heart and passes through the mitral valve (16) and pours into the left ventricle (13). Finally, with each contraction of the heart, it passes through the aortic valve and is sent to our body.
Valves are structures that prevent blood from flowing forward and escaping back. In cases that prevent blood from moving forward or cause it to flow backwards, a load is placed on the heart and problems begin to occur in both the heart and the organs that need blood.
What causes valve disease?
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Rheumatic fever
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Infectious Endocarditis
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Heart muscle diseases (cardiomyopathy)
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Hypertension
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Mitral Valve Prolapse (MVP): The mitral valves move into the left atrium with heart movements.
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Fibrocalcific degeneration
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Valve annulus enlargement (connective tissue diseases, aortic aneurysms, tumors, some drugs)
What are the symptoms of valve diseases?
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Fatigue
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Palpitations
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Shortness of breath
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Legs swelling
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Emboli (clot)
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Paralysis
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Rhythm problems
Heart valve diseases; While it disrupts the patient's daily life comfort with the symptoms it causes, it also damages the heart as an organ. Therefore, as with every disease, early diagnosis and treatment of heart valve problems is of great importance.
These are the two main problems that may require surgical intervention in heart valve problems. is provided. These; It is a leak in the heart valve, that is, insufficiency and stenosis of the heart valve. In addition to the diagnosis and examination process carried out before the surgical treatment of heart valve problems, deciding when to perform the surgery is also of great importance.
Diseases Requiring Heart Valve Surgery
Aortic Valve Stenosis and Its Treatment
A healthy aortic valve is normal. Its size is 3 to 4 centimeters. As a result of the narrowing of the aortic valve, this area becomes smaller and causes problems that negatively affect the patient's daily life. The symptoms caused by aortic valve stenosis can be listed as follows;
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Shortness of breath
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Pain in the chest area
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Sudden fainting
In cases where aortic valve stenosis is not treated for a long time, the problem of heart failure occurs. At the same time, the contraction power of the heart may decrease and physical activities may be restricted. In such cases, heart valve surgery can be performed, especially if surgical treatment does not pose a risk to the patient.
Aortic Valve Insufficiency and Treatment
In the contraction function of the heart, blood must reach the aorta from the ventricle of the heart and then spread to the whole body. However, in cases of aortic valve insufficiency problems, the blood that cannot spread from the aorta to the body fills back into the heart ventricle.
Problems such as shortness of breath and heart failure may also occur in patients with aortic valve insufficiency. In this case, the patient may need to have heart valve surgery. At the same time, aortic ruptures (Aortic dissection) may occur in the long term in patients with severe aortic valve insufficiency. In this case, the patient should be urgently undergone aortic valve surgery and the ruptured aortic vessel should be replaced.
Mitral Valve Insufficiency and Treatment
In a healthy person, the heart contracts and The pumped blood passes from the left atrium to the left ventricle through the mitral valve. However, in patients with mitral valve insufficiency, blood leaks back from the ventricular region to the atrial region. Must be removed from the heart ventricles Severe mitral valve insufficiency can be mentioned when half or more of the blood leaks into the heart atrium.
Mitral valve insufficiency can cause heart failure in the long term unless treated. Mitral valve insufficiency causes the following symptoms in the patient;
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Shortness of breath
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Heart rhythm problems
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Weakening of the contraction force of the heart
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Enlargement of heart diameter
Mitral valve insufficiency problems become much worse in the long term. Since it can cause serious heart diseases, it must be treated with surgical methods without delay.
Tricuspid Valve Insufficiency and Stenosis Problem
The average tricuspid valve size in a healthy heart It is 7 square centimeters. Significant reduction of this area causes tricuspid valve stenosis; As a result of the increase in jet area, it leads to tricuspid valve insufficiency.
Many patients with tricuspid valve insufficiency also experience mitral valve problems. Tricuspid valve is treated using surgical methods in order to avoid adversely affecting both the heart contraction function and the patient's overall health status.
How to Perform Heart Valve Surgeries
Patients with heart valve problems may experience serious complaints that will reduce their quality of life (shortness of breath, easy fatigue) and sudden More fatal complications such as heart problems (rupture of the aorta) may develop.
Surgical treatment of heart valve problems can be applied with two different disciplines. These;
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Heart valve repair
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Heart valve replacement
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