Heart valve disease

Symptoms of heart valve disease can include:

• shortness of breath
• feeling tired or weak
• feeling dizzy
• heart palpitations, where you suddenly feel your heart beating irregularly or faster than usual
• swollen ankles and feet
• chest pain or discomfort

Some people do not have any symptoms. Sometimes it's found by chance if a doctor hears an unusual sound (a heart murmur) when they listen to your chest.

• you're feeling short of breath regularly
• you feel tired, weak or dizzy when doing normal activities
• you have heart palpitations that keep coming back, last longer than a few minutes or are getting worse
• you have swollen ankles or feet
• you have chest pain that comes and goes

These symptoms can be caused by many different conditions. Having them does not definitely mean you have heart valve disease. But it's important to get them checked by a GP.

If you have symptoms of heart valve disease a GP will listen to your heart.

They may arrange tests or refer you to a heart specialist (cardiologist).

Tests you may have include:

• an ultrasound scan of your heart (echocardiogram)
• an X-ray of your chest
• an electrocardiogram (ECG), where sensors are put on your chest to check your heart

If you have mild heart valve disease and you do not have any symptoms, you may not need treatment. You'll usually have regular check-ups to see if your condition is getting worse.

If you have symptoms or have severe heart valve disease, you may need medicines to:

• lower your blood pressure and help protect your heart (ACE inhibitors)
• reduce build-up of fluid in your body and lungs (diuretics)
• slow down your heart rate (such as beta blockers)
• reduce the risk of blood clots (anticoagulants)

If you have severe heart valve disease you'll usually need surgery to either:

• repair the heart valve, if it's not seriously damaged
• replace the heart valve with an artificial valve or one made from human or animal tissue, if it cannot be repaired

Heart valve disease affects people differently. It's common to have mild heart valve disease that does not cause any issues, but for some people it can lead to serious health problems.

Your care team will tell you what to expect. They'll also advise on any changes you need to make. This can include healthy lifestyle changes and avoiding strenuous exercise.

Possible complications of heart valve disease include:

• heart failure, where your heart cannot pump blood properly
• atrial fibrillation, where your heart beats irregularly and faster than normal
• a stroke
• endocarditis, a serious condition where your heart becomes infected

Heart valve disease in pregnancy

It's important to get advice from a heart specialist if you're pregnant or want to get pregnant. Pregnancy can make heart valve disease symptoms worse.

You can usually have a safe pregnancy, but you may need extra monitoring and treatment.

Heart valve disease happens when 1 of your heart valves either:

• does not open fully (called stenosis)
• does not close fully (called prolapse) and may be leaky (called regurgitation)

This means your heart has to work harder to pump blood around your body.

It can affect any of your 4 heart valves, but it's most common in the aortic or mitral valves, on the left side of your heart.

Less commonly it can affect the tricuspid or pulmonary valves, on the right side of your heart.

Heart valve disease can be caused by:

• congenital heart disease, where you're born with the condition
• changes to your heart as you get older, particularly if you smoke or have high blood pressure or high cholesterol
• conditions that affect your heart, such as rheumatic fever, cardiomyopathy or endocarditis
• damage from a heart attack

If you have heart valve disease you can get support from charities such as:

• the British Heart Foundation
• Heart Valve Voice

Symptoms of heart valve disease can include shortness of breath, heart palpitations and swollen ankles and feet. Some people do not have any symptoms.

Heart valve disease is diagnosed using tests such as an ultrasound scan of your heart (echocardiogram), chest X-ray or electrocardiogram (ECG).

Mild heart valve disease does not always need treatment. If it's severe it can be treated with medicines, or surgery to repair or replace the valve.

Heart valve disease can sometimes cause complications such as heart failure, problems with your heart rhythm, a stroke or an infection in your heart.

You can be born with heart valve disease, or it can happen as you get older. Other causes include conditions like rheumatic fever or a heart attack.