Pulmonary valve disease is any issue that keeps this specific heart valve from working the way it should. Your pulmonary valve is the gatekeeper that lets your blood move from your heart’s right ventricle (lower chamber) to your lungs via your pulmonary artery. This allows your blood to get fresh oxygen to distribute to your body.
A problem with your pulmonary valve makes it harder for your blood to travel to your lungs, which delays getting oxygen to your tissues, cells and organs.
Types of pulmonary valve disease are:
Pulmonary valve disease symptoms may include:
People with mild stenosis or regurgitation don’t have symptoms.
Babies with pulmonary atresia have difficulty breathing or eating, are very sleepy and have a blue tone to their skin (cyanosis).
Causes of pulmonary valve disease vary by condition.
Pulmonary valve disease can strain, damage and/or enlarge your heart’s right ventricle because it has to use more effort to move blood forward to your lungs. In rare cases, this can lead to heart failure.
Children with pulmonary atresia may develop liver disease or abnormal heart rhythms.
While listening to your heart during a physical exam, a provider can hear a heart murmur. That’s a sign of pulmonary regurgitation or pulmonary stenosis.
A provider can use these tests to diagnose pulmonary valve disease:
Pulmonary valve disease treatments range from medicine to surgery, depending on the condition you have.
Pulmonary valve disease treatments include:
Some babies may have trouble eating after surgery and may need to get food through a tube in their nose.
After having a valve replacement, your child will need to take antibiotics before having dental work. This medicine lowers their risk of getting a heart infection called endocarditis.
After a pulmonary valve repair, the valve may leak. A provider may need to widen it again or replace it.
Any surgery can cause an infection or bleeding.
Your child may be in the hospital for one or two weeks after surgery for pulmonary atresia. It can take weeks or months to recover after surgery for pulmonary valve regurgitation. After a valvuloplasty for pulmonary stenosis, avoid doing anything strenuous for about a week.
Your experience with pulmonary valve disease may be different from that of another person. Some people have mild symptoms and don’t need surgery. Other people may need to have more than one pulmonary valve surgery in their lifetime.
Children who undergo valvuloplasty for pulmonary valve stenosis (widening a narrow valve) have an excellent prognosis (outlook). They usually don’t need anything more except checkups with a pediatric cardiologist. Some people need a provider to widen their pulmonary valve again 15 years or more in the future.
Pulmonary atresia is fatal without treatment, but most children live into adulthood after surgery.
The outlook is good for people who have mild or moderate pulmonary valve regurgitation. For those with more severe disease, the outlook depends on how quickly they get treatment.
You can’t lower your risk of having a child with pulmonary valve disease from unknown causes. But if you plan to become pregnant, you should be sure you’re up to date with the rubella vaccine.
You may be able to prevent pulmonary valve regurgitation by preventing its causes: pulmonary hypertension, endocarditis and rheumatic fever.
Keep your heart healthy by managing things you can, like:
Keep your follow-up appointments with your cardiologist (heart specialist) so they can make sure your valve continues to work right. They may also want to repeat some tests they used to diagnose you. These may include:
You should go to the emergency room if you have:
You may want to ask your provider:
Women have unique health issues. And some of the health issues that affect both men and women can affect women differently.
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