Valvular Heart Disease Lawsuit Resource

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Valvular heart disease is any disease process involving one or more valves of the heart.

There are four valves that control the flow of blood through the four chambers of the heart (listed below in the same order as blood flows through the heart):

• Tricuspid valve (in the right side of the heart between the right atrium and right ventricle)
• Pulmonic valve (in the right side of the heart between the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery)
• Mitral valve (in the left side of the heart between the left atrium and left ventricle - and the only valve with 2 leaflets instead of 3)
• Aortic valve (in the left side of the heart between the left ventricle and the aorta)

Two Types of Valvular Heart Disease

• Stenosis is a narrowing of the valve so that blood cannot move through as freely as necessary.
  
  
• Regurgitation is a failure of the one-way valve so that blood flows back through the valve in the wrong direction.

The valves most commonly affected by disease are the mitral valve, which controls flow of the blood from the left upper chamber, or atrium, to the left lower chamber, and the aortic valve, which controls blood flow out of the left ventricle to the rest of the body.

Symptoms of Valvular Heart Disease

Below is a list of Valvular Heart Disease symptoms:

• Weakness on exertion
• Rapid heartbeat
• Chest discomfort
• Fainting spells
• No symptoms at all in some patients

Are you interested in Clinical Trials? The U.S. National Institutes of Health may be able to help. Valvular Heart Disease Clinical Trials