Aortic Valve Stenosis

Some possible ways to prevent aortic valve stenosis are:

• Get a health checkup when you have a sore throat. Strep throat that is not treated can lead to rheumatic fever, which can damage heart valves. Strep throat can usually be easily treated with antibiotics. Rheumatic fever is more common in children and young adults.
• Keep the heart healthy. Talk about your risk factors for heart disease with your healthcare team. Ask how to prevent and manage them. Risk factors such as high blood pressure, obesity and high cholesterol may be linked to aortic valve stenosis.
• Take care of the teeth and gums. There may be a link between infected gums, called gingivitis, and a heart infection known as endocarditis. Endocarditis is a risk factor for aortic valve stenosis.

To diagnose aortic valve stenosis, a healthcare professional examines you and asks questions about your symptoms and medical history. The health professional listens to your heart with a stethoscope. If you have aortic valve stenosis, a sound called a heart murmur may be heard.

Tests

Tests can tell if you have aortic valve stenosis. They also can learn the cause and how severe the condition is.

Tests for aortic valve stenosis may include:

• Echocardiogram. Sound waves are used to make pictures of the beating heart. An echocardiogram shows how blood flows through the heart and heart valves. It can tell how severe aortic valve stenosis is. The test also can show if the heart muscle is weakened.

  There are different types of echocardiograms. The type you have depends on the information your healthcare team needs. A standard echocardiogram is done from outside the body. An ultrasound device moves over the skin of the chest above the heart. If more details are needed about the heart, a transesophageal echocardiogram may be done. This type creates pictures of the heart from inside the body. The ultrasound device attaches to a tube that goes down the throat and into the esophagus.

• Electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG). This quick test records the electrical activity of the heart. It shows how the heart beats. Sticky patches with sensors on them go on the chest and sometimes the legs. Wires connect the patches to a computer, which displays or prints results. Your healthcare professional can look for signal patterns related to heart disease or swelling of the heart’s chambers.
• Chest X-ray. A chest X-ray shows the condition of the heart and lungs. It can show if the heart is bigger than usual, which can occur in aortic valve stenosis. It also can tell if there is calcium buildup on the aortic valve.
• Exercise tests or stress tests. These tests often involve walking on a treadmill or riding a stationary bike while the heart’s activity is checked. Exercise tests show how the heart reacts to physical activity and whether valve disease symptoms happen during exercise. If you can’t exercise, you may get medicine that affects the heart like exercise does.
• Cardiac computerized tomography (CT) scan. This test uses several X-rays to create detailed images of the heart and heart valves. The test may be done to check the size of the aorta and look at the aortic valve more closely. A CT scan may be done to see how much calcium buildup is on the valve. It also can show how severe the aortic valve stenosis is.
• Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. A cardiac MRI uses magnetic fields and radio waves to create detailed images of the heart. This test can show the size of the aorta. It may be used to learn how severe the aortic valve stenosis is.
• Cardiac catheterization. This test isn’t often used to diagnose aortic valve disease. But it may be done to see how severe aortic valve disease is or to diagnose the condition if other tests can’t. In this test, a doctor places a thin, flexible tube into a blood vessel, usually in the groin area or arm, and guides it to the heart. Cardiac catheterization also may be used before aortic valve surgery to make sure the heart arteries are not blocked.

After testing confirms a diagnosis of aortic valve disease, your healthcare professional may tell you the stage of disease. Staging helps your healthcare team pick the most appropriate treatment.

Heart valve disease is staged into four basic groups:

• Stage A: At risk. Risk factors for heart valve disease are present.
• Stage B: Progressive. Valve disease is mild or moderate. There are no heart valve symptoms.
• Stage C: Asymptomatic severe. There are no heart valve symptoms but the valve disease is severe.
• Stage D: Symptomatic severe. Heart valve disease is severe and is causing symptoms.

The stage of heart valve disease depends on many things, including symptoms, disease severity, the structure of the valve or valves, and blood flow through the heart and lungs.