Types and Symptoms Of Heart Valve Disease

Author: Judy Wellsworth

There are two types of heart valve disease--heart disease resulting from narrowed heart valves, and heart disease resulting from leaky heart valves. Each of them stems from several different causes, ranging from birth defects, to bacterial infection, to aging.

Congential Heart Valve Disease

Congenital heart valve is the most common, and can result in inflexible or narrowed, or floppy, valves, or irregular valve flaps. Congenital heart valve disease is often diagnosed within a few days of a baby's birth, but if the defect is minor, may not be discovered until much later. Heart valve disease can be very hard to diagnose because some forms of it do not produce symptoms.

Some people, however, acquire heart valve disease because of complications from another disease such as heart muscle disease, coronary artery disease and heart attack. A child who has suffered from a rheumatic heart disease because of a simple strep throat will likely to have a valvular disease when he or she reaches adulthood.

Heart valve disease, however, can also develop as a complication from some other illness; children who have had rheumatic fever following an untreated case of strep throat have a greater than fifty percent chance of developing scarring on their heart valves. A heart with scarred valves has to work harder than one with smooth ones, and as the years mount, the extra strain on the heart can lead to rheumatic heart disease.

Endiocarditis

Another form of heart valve disease which can result from infection is endiocarditis. Endiocarditis develops when bacteria enters the bloodstream during surgery or dental procedures, causing inflammation of the heart and scarring both its valves and leaflets. In the case of endiocarditis, the scarred leaflets will allow blood entering the heart to back up, or "regurgitate," diminishing the blood volume within the heart and the amount of blood and oxygen which reaches the body's other organs.

The elderly are susceptible to heart valve disease resulting from calcification, or calcium deposit buildup, along the valves.

Testing For Heart Valve Disease

Echocardiograms

and MRIs are the tests best suited to diagnose heart valve disease. Either one will give the cardiologist a good look at abnormalities both in the main chambers of the heart and all its smaller structures including the valves.

http://www.treatheartdiseasehelp.com/Pulmonary_Heart_Disease/

Symptoms of heart valve disease can include vertigo resulting from a quick shift of positions, such as standing up or sitting, heart palpitations or racing, shortness of breath after minimal activity, and sever afternoon fatigue.

Those experiencing any of these symptoms on a regular basis should arrange to see a cardiologist and be tested for a heart murmurs, a strong indication of heart valve disease.

About the author:

You can also find more info on http://www.treatheartdiseasehelp.com/Reversing_Heart_Disease/

Reversing Heart Disease and http://www.treatheartdiseasehelp.com/

Heart Disease.

Treatheartdiseasehelp.com is a comprehensive resource to know about Heart Diseases.

tags:Congenital Heart Defects,Heart Diseases,Heart valve Diseases

Heart Disease Treatment: What Options Are Available

Author: Saul Peterson

There are many forms of heart disease including ischemic heart disease (plaque-blocked arteries), congenital conditions, arrhythmia, and diseases of the actual heart muscle. Whether heart disease is detected early or not revealed until after heart failure, there are now available to doctors and medical professionals many differing remedies and treatments to reduce the risks of further heart disease. Very basically there are three categories of heart disease treatment.

Just keep taking the tablets!!

When a heart beats too quickly, or if the arteries around it contract tightly, the heart will be overtaxed, like revving an engine that's in park, which, long term can result in damage to the heart muscle. Doctors prescribe three classes of pills called nitrates, beta blockers, and calcium channel blockers to enable the heart to run more efficiently. Each of these types of heart disease treatments help the heart to beat regularly and slowly, or expand the arteries in the area of the heart so that blood flow to the heart muscle is more efficient.

Surely everyone these days knows that Aspirin thins the blood and reduces the risk of blood clots forming, causing blocked arteries. Aspirin does diminish the blood's ability to form clots, as do Heparin and Warfarin, other drugs fight cholesterol, which can form plaque in the arteries (ischemic heart disease) and lead to heart failure. These drugs are usually called cholesterol reducing drugs or are part of a subcategory called 'statins'.

As always, if your doctor prescribes medicine, don't forget to ask plenty of questions about what the drug is and what it does, including any possible side effects.

Scalpel, Please!!

When clogged caronary arteries are life threatening, heart disease treatment can mean going into surgery. Some surgeries will clear the plaque in the arteries by cleaning or grinding it away or inflating a balloon (angioplasty) in the arteries to break up the plaque. During bypass surgery a large blood vessel will be taken from elsewhere in the body and grafted to the blocked artery so blood can pass around the blockage to the heart.

Surgeries for other conditions include implanting a pacemaker into the heart to treat arrhythmia, and doctors can transplant aortic valves into a patient whose valve has stopped functioning properly. In case no heart disease treatment is possible, such as in infants born with heart defects, artificial hearts do exist, though they are only a temporary solution until a heart transplant can be performed.

Treat The Whole System!!

Of course, before your heart gets desperate enough to need drugs or surgery, look to the risk factors you can control. Don't smoke; control your cholesterol as best as possible so that plaque never gets a chance to clog your arteries, although the body produces cholesterol itself so in some cases tight control of your cholesterol level is extremely difficult; and exercise regularly, most days in a week, to keep your heart muscles healthy. Hopefully if you undertake these simple steps, heart disease treatment will be for other people, not you.

For a free e-book, more articles and information about heart disease please visit http://www.a1toparticles.com/heart.html/

About the author:
Saul Peterson has suffered heart

Save Now

failure and disease for over 10 years - having numerous operations during this time - he knows heart disease first-hand

tags:Congenital Heart Defects,Heart Diseases

Heart Disease in our body

Author: Dr. April Davall

Human body is a complex machine. There are many organs in the body and the most important organ is the heart. This helps the person to breathe and live. Heart disease is a commonly used term for a number of different diseases affecting the heart. These may range from coronary, ischemic and inflammatory heart diseases which are diseases of the heart itself; to hypertensive heart disease (caused by high blood pressure) and cardiovascular heart diseases (a general term used for a number of diseases that affect the heart itself and/or the blood vessel system, especially the veins and arteries). Certain heart diseases may also arise due to hereditary factors or due to congenital defects of the heart.

Apart from diseases attributable to the heart itself, there are risk factors which increase the chances of a person developing cardiovascular ailments. Some of these risk factors, like heredity or aging, are beyond a person's control. However other factors like being overweight, leading a sedentary life, having high blood pressure and smoking can certainly be controlled.

Some of the conditions associated with heart diseases are arteriosclerosis (also called hardening of the arteries); atherosclerosis (where arteries get narrow due to build-up - called plaque - of cholesterol and fat) and; angina (where there is pain in the heart due to inadequate blood supply). In extreme cases heart diseases may also lead to an often fatal heart attack (when a blood clot or other blockage cuts blood flow to a part of the heart) or a stroke, when part of the brain does not get adequate blood supply due to a burst blood vessel or a clot.

Medical science has found many high-tech, and often expensive, methods for treating heart diseases. These are mostly invasive techniques. However, the common adage that 'prevention is better than cure' holds true for heart diseases too, particularly for atherosclerotic cardiac disease which is the greatest killer. Some of these preventive measures are diet and life-style changes to control high blood pressure (which makes the heart work harder); control diabetes (which increases chances of getting heart disease); cholesterol and triglycerides (which clog arteries) and to maintain a healthy weight.

Symptoms of a serious heart condition or even a heart attack may vary. However, common warning signals can be pain or discomfort in the chest or other areas of the upper body including arms, back, neck, stomach and jaw; shortness of breath; feeling of faintness; cold sweat; nausea etc. The symptoms may vary. Hence, when in doubt, it is advisable to call for emergency assistance, preferably within a span of five minutes.

About the author:

Dr. April Davall is SEO of mecholesterol.com, her goal is to give you good and helpful information about heart disease and cholesterol. You can learn and print out almost anything about heart disease and cholesterol, all is free.

tags:Congenital Heart Defects,Heart Diseases

What is Cardiomyopathy?

Author: Li Ming Wong

Cardiomyopathy is a serious disease in which the heart muscle becomes inflamed and doesn't work as well as it should. There may be multiple causes including viral infections.

People used to assume that only the elderly had heart disease or heart attacks. That is not the case as heart disease can strike before birth and any age in life. Heart disease covers a wide range of health conditions relating to the heart and all its systems.

Cardiomyopathy is classified as primary or secondary. Primary cardiomyopathy is not given specific causes, such as high blood pressure, heart valve disease or congenital heart defects. Secondary cardiomyopathy is due to specific causes. It is often associated with diseases involving other organs plus the heart.

Dilated (congestive) Cardiomyopathy is the most common form. The heart cavity is enlarged and stretched (cardiac dilation). The heart is weak and doesn't pump normally, with many patients developing congestive heart failure. Abnormal heart rhythms and disturbances in the heart's electrical conduction also may occur.

Blood flows more slowly through an enlarged heart, so blood clots easily form. A blood clot that forms in an artery or the heart is called a thrombus. A clot that breaks free circulates in the bloodstream and blocks a small blood vessel is called an embolus. These clots are dangerous and can cause other systems plus their organs to become sick. For example, blood clots that form in the heart's left side may become dislodged and carried into the body's circulation to form cerebral emboli in the brain, renal emboli in the kidney, peripheral emboli or even coronary artery emboli.

Cardiomyopathy literally means "heart muscle disease" (The deterioration of the function of the myocardium (i.e., the actual heart muscle) for any reason). People with Cardiomyopathy are often at risk of arrhythmia and possibly sudden cardiac death (heart attack).

tags:Congenital Heart Defects,Heart Diseases,Cardiomyopathy Guide

Heart Disease Guide

Author: Suresh U Vatakethil

A practical guide to the understanding & prevention of heart disease

Smoking and Heart Disease

Cigarette smoking is a major cause of heart diseases, such as heart attack, stroke, and peripheral vascular disease.

Some Heart Disease Facts Due to Smoking:

• Tobacco contains more then 4,000 chemicals, many are known to be poisonous. - Nicotine increases blood pressure, because the carbon monoxide makes the heart beat faster and takes the place of oxygen in the blood. - Tar in tobacco causes cancer, which can be a fatal disease. - Smoking for long periods of time will cause artery clogging, which in turn leads to heart attacks from overworking the heart by reducing its oxygen supply. It also makes clots more likely to form in the blood vessels increasing the risk of potentially fatal changes in the heart beat.

• Those who are regular, long-time smokers have a 70% greater risk of death from coronary heart disease than non-smokers. - 80% of new smokers are children and adolescents who are trying to copy a parent or other hero figure. Passive smoking can cause heart disease, and those who do not smoke directly but inhale smoke from others are at direct risk, as well.

• Living with an active smoker increases one's risk of heart disease by 30%. - Inhaling smoke is especially dangerous for children and unborn babies (pregnant women) and can lead to low birth weight babies, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), bronchitis, pneumonia, asthma, and middle ear infection. Stop Smoking to Improve Your Health and Increase Your Life Span Many choose smoking to cope with stress, loose weight, because of poor self-esteem, or simply to fit in the friend's circle by looking 'cool.' Most of the first time smokers get their first cigarette from someone else or find it readily available in the house from a smoking parent. Here are some great reasons to stop smoking now:

• Smoking causes heart disease, which can lead to a heart attack. - Your smoking can cause the same bad effects on your family and friends around you who don't smoke.

• Save money from not buying cigarettes - if you do the math, depending on how much you smoke, you are looking at couple of thousand dollars a year.

Getting Help

If you think you cannot do it with just plain will power and/or if you are a heavy smoker, get help before you start so you can successfully quit the habit.

• Check with your doctor first and see what course of action he/she recommends. - Nicotine patch/pills/chewing gums are a great substitute.

• Try to quit along with a friend or a group. Cigarette smoking can cause you to die early and those who live close to you to inhale the smoke - that in itself should be reason enough to quit. Enjoy a healthy life and offer clean air to your family and friends - quit smoking today.

Preventing Heart Disease

Doctor Approved Ways to Prevent Heart Disease

Today's modern medicine has made great strides in determining the causes of heart diseases, as well as ways to treat and prevent it. Just fifty years ago, most people didn't go to the doctor unless they were sick, and the medical profession itself didn't really warn its patients about heart disease, unless the person showed serious signs of it or had a close family member with the disease. Now, thankfully, a much more pro-active approach is taken by both the patient and the doctor in preventing heart disease, as well as treating it.

An Ounce of Prevention

Perhaps one of the best ways to prevent heart disease is to change the patient's outlook on diet and exercise. It has been shown, time and time again, by such medical groups as the American Medical Association and the American Heart Association that a diet low in fat and low in calories is a great way to lower a person's cholesterol, which is a major risk factor when it comes to heart disease. Add to that a regular doctor approved exercise routine and regular monitoring by the family doctor, and you will be an active participant in the battle to prevent heart disease.

One thing to always remember, of course, is that you and your doctor should be a team in the challenge to prevent heart disease. Routine monitoring of such things as your blood pressure, cholesterol level, general weight and health, as well as indications of other diseases that might complicate the situation are all very important things that both you and your chosen medical professional should be on the look out for. So, even if you're not overly concerned about preventing heart disease, see your doctor on a regular basis and talk with them. Depending on what is uncovered, you can possibly get a head

start on your race to prevent heart disease.

When Exercise and Diet Aren't Enough

While good diet and regular exercise are great ways to help prevent heart disease, sometimes they simply aren't enough. Occasionally, your doctor will prescribe different medicines, to help with the battle. The most common ones are those that either help regulate and lower high blood pressure or help the body process and lower the concentrations of cholesterol. Whether or not prescription drugs are needed for your situation should be decided after a serious consultation with your doctor and some monitoring of your health and lifestyle. There are many drugs out there to help prevent heart disease, and your doctor can discuss all the options available.

Trying to prevent heart disease is definitely something that should be on the forefront of everyone's mind. It is one of the leading killers of both men and women in the United States today. By working with your doctor, and following a sensible low fat diet and exercise plan, your efforts to prevent heart disease will not be in vain.

Heart Disease treatment

Heart Disease Treatment Options

Heart disease includes plaque-blocked arteries, congenital conditions, arrhythmia, and diseases of the actual heart muscle. Whether heart disease is detected early or not revealed until after heart failure, doctors have many kinds of remedies and treatments to reduce the risks of further heart disease. Broadly defined, there are three categories of heart disease treatment.

Take Two and Call Me in the Morning

If your heart is beating too quickly, or if the arteries around it contract tightly, the heart will be overtaxed, like revving an engine that's in park. Doctors prescribe three classes of pills called nitrates, beta blockers, and calcium channel blockers to let the heart run efficiently. Each of these types of heart disease treatments help the heart to beat regularly and slowly, or expand the arteries in the area of the heart so that blood flow is more regular.

Everyone has seen TV ads promoting Aspirin to thin the blood and reduce the risk of blood clots causing blocked arteries. While Aspirin does diminish the blood's ability to form clots, other drugs fight cholesterol, which can form plaque in the arteries and lead to heart failure. These drugs are usually simply called cholesterol reducing drugs or are part of a subcategory called statins.

As always, if your doctor prescribes medicine, remember to ask plenty of questions about what the drug is and what it does.

Scalpel, Please

When clogged cardiac arteries are life threatening, heart disease treatment can mean going into surgery. Some surgeries will clear the plaque in the arteries by cleaning or grinding it away or inflating a balloon in the arteries to break up the plaque. Bypass surgeries take a large blood vessel from elsewhere in the body and graft it to the blocked artery so blood can pass to the heart.

Surgeries for other conditions include implanting a pacemaker into the heart to treat arrhythmia, and doctors can transplant aortic valves into a patient whose valve has stopped functioning properly. In case no heart disease treatment is possible, such as in infants born with heart defects, artificial hearts do exist, though they are only a temporary solution until a heart transplant can be performed.

Treat The Whole System

Of course, before your heart gets desperate enough to need drugs or surgery, look to the risk factors you can control. Don't smoke; control your cholesterol so that plaque never gets a chance to clog your arteries; and exercise regularly, most days in a week, to keep your heart muscles healthy. Then maybe you might never need to know about heart disease treatment.

How The Heart Breaks

Author: Lance Teo

The heart is divided into four chambers, or rooms: the left atrium, the right atrium, the left ventricle, and the right ventricle. Each chamber is sealed by a valve, so that blood can go one way but not the other.

When you listen to a heartbeat, you can hear that the beat happens in two parts: lub-dub. The first part of the beat pushes the blood from the atria (the small chambers on the top of the heart) to the ventricles (the larger ones on the bottom), and the second part of the beat pushes the blood out of the heart.

Every single cell in our bodies requires oxygen to produce energy from food. It is the one essential ingredient; we cannot survive for any extended period of time without oxygen. This is why the heart is so important. Its primary job is to circulate oxygen-rich blood throughout our entire body.

The two sides of the heart perform two different functions toward this end. The right side of the heart collects oxygen-poor blood and sends it to the lungs to be replenished with oxygen and to rid itself of carbon dioxide.

The left side takes the oxygen-rich blood coming from the lungs and recirculates it through the body to your muscles and organs. Oxygenated (oxygen-rich) blood is carried by the arteries away from the heart, and oxygen-depleted blood is carried by the veins back to the heart.

Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. It can be caused by many different factors, including congenital heart defects, heart valve infections, and

heartbeat irregularities., which is the most common form of heart disease, affecting 7 million Americans today

What is coronary artery disease?

Like all the cells and muscles in the body, the heart muscle itself needs oxygen. And as with the rest of the body, that life-sustaining oxygen is carried to the individual cells of the heart by arteries. These are called the coronary arteries. There are three main coronary arteries: one on the left that splits into the left anterior descending, or LAD, and the circumflex, and one on the right, the right coronary artery, or RCA.

If the coronary arteries are blocked and unable to do their jobs, then the heart is left without oxygen and unable to do its job. Depriving the heart of oxygen for even a brief period of time will result in the death of some of the heart muscle--otherwise known as a heart attack.

The heart requires more oxygen when it's working hard, which is to say, when you're working hard. That's why many people with coronary artery disease classically experience chest pains when they're exerting themselves--jogging for instance, playing tennis, or even simply taking out the garbage. Your heart may be able to sustain itself at rest, but when you're exerting yourself, it needs more oxygen.

The limited amount of oxygenated blood that reaches the cells through the diseased and partially blocked arteries simply isn't enough. These classic chest pains, also known as angina, are the diseased heart's signal that the coronary arteries aren't allowing enough oxygenated blood to reach the heart muscle.

When the amount of blood to a muscle is insufficient, that low-oxygen state is called ischemia. Coronary artery disease is often also called ischemic heart disease (IHD) as a result. A heart attack occurs when the coronary arteries are sufficiently blocked as to rob the heart muscle (the myocardium) of oxygen for long enough that part of the tissue dies (a condition called infarction).

For this reason, a heart attack is called a myocardial infarction, or MI. Peripheral artery disease, or PAD, is when blockages occur in arteries other than the coronary arteries. These are no less serious: A stroke occurs when oxygen flow to the brain is blocked, and when oxygen flow to the limbs is blocked, the outcome can be gangrene.

Tags:congenital heart defects,heart diseases,Heart Breaks

Heart Disease Facts

Author: Ray Kelly

It is estimated that approximately 7% of the population has some form of heart disease or damage to their heart. Most people associate heart disease with arteriosclerosis, which leads to heart attacks. However, there are other forms of heart disease, which are just as deadly. Knowing the facts about arteriosclerosis as well as the other primary forms of heart disease can enable you to recognize the symptoms both in yourself and loved ones. And early recognition is one of the most important factors in surviving heart disease.

Arteriosclerosis is the most common type of heart disease. This disease is characterized by a hardening of the arteries, including the coronary arteries, which surround and nourish the heart. Many believe that this process begins early in life. It is so common that it is found present in over half of Americans at death. Though the exact process is unknown, it is understood that the build up of plaque in blood vessels eventually causes the arteries to harden. Thus, the plaque seems to be the precipitating factor. Luckily, this can be controlled through a proper diet and regularly exercise. Eventually the build up is enough that the blood flow becomes seriously constricted. When this happens, the result may be a myocardial infarction, which we commonly call a heart attack. Another possible result of this same problem is when the fatty deposits form a clot that eventually cuts off the blood supply to the heart or some other vital part of the body. These two possibilities amount to the most frequent cause of death for the average American.

Cardiomyopathy is the next most common form of heart disease. This disease takes the form of impaired function of the heart itself. What has happened is that somehow the heart has been damaged and weakened to such an extent that the pumping actionis impaired and in the process of compensating the muscle grows larger and larger. As the damage increases the danger of clotting and cardiac arrhythmia increases as well.

Cardiomyopathy often results in damage to the heart's electrical system and is the primary factor in later developing arrhythmias. Many patients with Cardiomyopathy are the prime candidates for heart transplants, which has a chance of saving their lives.

The final form of heart disease is when damage takes place on or near the heart valves themselves. This damage is usually a result of a congenital defect or an infection. Often it is a strep throat infection, which untreated, leads to rheumatic fever and eventually direct damage to the heart valves. Rheumatic fever has been well controlled in the United States

but it is still responsible for approximately 7000 deaths per year. As far as congenital defects, it is estimated that only a portion of the 25,000 babies born yearly with heart defects have damage to the heart valves. One known cause is when the mother contracts German measles during late term pregnancy.

Regardless of the type of heart problem encountered it is

helpful to know the common warning signs for a heart attack.

They are:

• A feeling of pain or slight pressure to the chest or a crushing sensation behind the breastbone. This may radiate to the shoulder, arm or legs.
• The feeling usually lasts for alength of time.
• OTC medication or rest does not reduce the pain though it will respond to a narcotic drug. - The face often turns ashen gray and a cold sweat develops. Often this is accompanied by nausea and shortness of breath. - Retching, belching or vomiting may occur which is often confused with indigestion.

If you or a loved one experiences these symptoms get to a doctor !

Tags :Congenital Heart Defects,Heart Diseases

Heart Diseases: UK Has the Highest Heart Disease Rates of the World

Author: Hector Milla

One of the highest rates of death due to heart disease in the world affects the United Kingdom (UK). According to statistics, one British adult dies from the disease every three minutes; meanwhile stroke ranks third as the country's biggest killer, causing the death of 70,000 men and women each year.

Experts explain that heart attacks happen when blood flow is closed, often because a blood clot occurs, while strokes when a blood tube in your brain suddenly are caused by blocked or burst of blood vessels.

There exist various and different heart conditions, such as heart attack, heart failure, heart muscle disease, heart valve disease, congenital heart defects, angina, hardened arteries,

high blood pressure and disturbed heart rhythm.

These conditions -such as heart failure, when blood is not pumped around the body in a proper way, along with congenital heart defects- can cause long term problems and death for

sufferers.

The importance of heart is vital. This body organ pumps blood through the body carrying oxygen and other nutrients to the areas that need it. However, serious illness and even death can result when this process is interrupted or does not work correctly.

Although men are more likely to suffer from heart disease than women, people with poor diet, who smoke and do not exercise, are in greater risk for developing a heart related disease.

In order to alleviate symptoms or save the lives of sufferers there exist different tests and treatments, including drugs, heart bypass surgery and transplants.

congenital heart defects, heart diseases

Ebstein's Anomaly

What It Is

Ebstein's anomaly, also called Ebstein's malformation, is a heart defect in which the tricuspid valve is abnormally formed. The tricuspid valve normally has three "flaps" or leaflets. In Ebstein's anomaly, one or two of the three leaflets are stuck to the wall of the heart and don't move normally. Often there's also a hole in the wall between the atria, the heart's two upper chambers. This hole is called an atrial septal defect or ASD. Because the tricuspid valve is malformed in Ebstein's anomaly, it often doesn't work properly and may leak. If the valve leaks, some of the blood pumped by the right ventricle goes backwards through the valve with each heartbeat.
Surgical Treatment
Ebstein's anomaly is mild in most adults who have it, so they don't need surgery. However sometimes the tricuspid valve leaks severely enough to result in heart failure or cyanosis (see the Glossary). Then surgery may be required.
Several different operations have been used in patients with Ebstein's anomaly. The most common involves a repair of the tricuspid valve. The valve can't be made normal, but often surgery significantly reduces the amount of leaking. If there's an ASD, it's usually closed at the same time. In some cases the tricuspid valve can't be adequately repaired. Then it's replaced with an artificial valve.
Ongoing Care

Medical

People with Ebstein's anomaly should receive continued care from a cardiologist with expertise in congenital heart defects. Besides getting information from routine exams, the cardiologist may use tests such as electrocardiograms, Holter monitor and echocardiograms.
Activity Restrictions
Being physically active is good for your cardiovascular system, so stay active. If valve leakage is mild and tests show no abnormal heart rhythms, you can usually participate in most sports. Your cardiologist may recommend avoiding certain intense competitive sports. Ask your cardiologist which activities are right for you.
Pregnancy
Pregnancy puts many increased demands on the heart. In most cases women with mild Ebstein's anomaly will safely deliver normal children. Still, each woman should be evaluated individually. Consult with your cardiologist about the safety of pregnancy.
Problems You May Have

Heart Rhythm Disturbances

People with Ebstein's anomaly may have a rapid heart rhythm called supraventricular tachycardia (SVT). An episode of SVT may cause palpitations. (You feel your heart racing.) Sometimes this is associated with fainting, dizziness, lightheadedness or chest discomfort. If you have these symptoms, contact your doctor. If your symptoms persist, seek immediate attention. Recurrent SVT may be prevented with medicines. In many cases, the source of the abnormal heart rhythm may be removed by a catheter procedure called radiofrequency ablation.
Other Problems
If the valve abnormality is especially severe, you may have decreased stamina, fatigue, cyanosis, and sometimes fluid retention. These problems usually develop because the valve has become leakier. If you have these symptoms, contact your cardiologist. The symptoms may respond to medicines such as diuretics, which cause you to lose excess fluid. In some instances surgery (described above) may be recommended.

Tags: congenital heart defects,heart diseases,Ebstein's Anomaly

Truncus Arteriosus

What It Is
Truncus arteriosus is characterized by a large ventricular septal defect over which a large, single great vessel (truncus) arises. This single great vessel carries blood both to the body and to the lungs.

Surgical Treatment
Surgery is required to close the ventricular septal defect and separate blood flow to the body from blood flow to the lungs. This is generally done early in infancy to prevent high blood pressure from damaging the lungs' arteries. A patch is used to close the ventricular defect. The pulmonary arteries are then disconnected from the single great vessel and a tube (a conduit or tunnel) is placed from the right ventricle to these pulmonary arteries. This is sometimes called a Rastelli repair.

Medical
Patients with truncus arteriosus need regular follow-up with a pediatric or adult cardiologist with special training in congenital heart disease. You may need to take medicine after your operation to help your heart pump better. Your cardiologist will track you with a variety of tests. These include electrocardiograms, Holter monitors, exercise stress tests and echocardiograms to determine when another procedure such as cardiac catheterization may be needed.

Activity Restrictions
If you have decreased heart function or rhythm disturbances, you may need to limit your activity. Your cardiologist will help determine what is necessary.

Problems You May Have

Heart Function
In the long-term period after the operation, the heart muscle's ability to contract may decrease. You may need medication including diuretics, agents to help your heart pump better and drugs to control your blood pressure.

Heart Rhythm Disturbances
Patients with repaired truncus arteriosus have a higher risk for heart rhythm disturbances, called arrhythmias. These arrhythmias can originate from the atria (the heart's two upper chambers) or the ventricles (the two lower chambers). Sometimes they may cause dizziness or fainting. Medication may be required to control them. In rare cases, a procedure in the cardiac catheterization laboratory or the operating room may be required to eliminate these arrhythmias and control symptoms.

High Blood Pressure in the Lungs (Pulmonary Hypertension)
Sometimes, even when the defect is repaired early, the pulmonary hypertension becomes progressively worse. You may experience shortness of breath, decreased exercise endurance and sometimes headaches and dizziness.

Pregnancy
Women with repaired truncus arteriosus may handle pregnancy well. However, some may not.

Tags: congenital heart defects, Truncus Arteriosus, heart disease, congenital heart disease

Pulmonary Valve Stenosis

What It Is
Oxygen-depleted blood is pumped through the pulmonary valve to the lungs to pick up oxygen. Normally the pulmonary valve has three leaflets. If these leaflets are malformed, the valve may become narrowed (stenotic) or leaky (insufficient). The stenosis, insufficiency or both can be mild to severe.

Surgical Treatment
If the stenosis is severe, the pulmonary valve must be opened to increase blood flow to the lungs. A balloon-tipped catheter is used to do this. It dilates (widens) the valve when the balloon is inflated. The valve also may be opened during open-heart surgery.

If the insufficiency is severe, an operation is required to repair or replace the pulmonary valve.

Medical
If your pulmonary stenosis or insufficiency was severe, you'll need ongoing care to check for restenosis or increasing insufficiency. If it's mild or moderate, you probably won't need surgical treatment at first. But you will need ongoing follow-up so your cardiologist can check for arrhythmias or any signs of strain or dilation of your right ventricle. (The right ventricle is the heart chamber that pumps blood through the pulmonary valve.)

Activity Restrictions
If you have mild to moderate pulmonary stenosis or insufficiency, you probably won't need to limit your physical activity. If it's severe, you may need to limit your activity because of strain or dilation of the right ventricle or arrhythmias. Ask your cardiologist about exercise recommendations.

Problems You May Have

Symptoms
If you have mild pulmonary stenosis or insufficiency, you probably won't have any symptoms. If it's moderate or severe, you may not tolerate exercise well and may have shortness of breath or palpitations.

Pregnancy
You'll likely handle pregnancy well if you have mild or moderate stenosis or regurgitation. If your lesion is severe, pregnancy may be higher risk, particularly if you have an artificial valve. Your cardiologist should be involved in your care during pregnancy and delivery.

congenital heart defects

Coarctation of the Aorta

What It Is
The aorta is the body's main artery. It distributes oxygen-rich blood to all parts of the body except the lungs. The first branches of the aorta go to the upper body (arms and head). After that, blood goes to the lower body (abdomen and legs). Coarctation of the aorta is a narrowing of the aorta between the upper-body artery branches and the branches to the lower body. This blockage can increase blood pressure in your arms and head, reduce pressure in your legs and seriously strain your heart. Aortic valve abnormalities often accompany coarctation.

Surgical Treatment
The narrowing can be removed by surgery or sometimes by a nonsurgical balloon dilation in the cardiac catheterization lab. Aortic coarctation may return even after successful surgery or balloon dilation. This isn't uncommon if your repair was done when you were a newborn. (It's uncommon if it was repaired when you were a child.) If you've reached your full adult size and have no blood pressure difference between your arms and legs, it's highly unlikely that your aorta will become obstructed again.

Recurrent coarctation is usually treated with nonsurgical balloon dilation or by implanting a stent using cardiac catheterization.

Medical
After the coarctation is repaired, you'll need your blood pressure checked every 1-2 years. The reason is that you're at higher risk of developing generalized high blood pressure or problems with your aortic valve. Both of these can be checked for during your routine cardiology visits.

Activity Restrictions
Depending on your blood pressure at rest or during exercise, you may be advised to avoid some forms of strenuous exercise. Heavy isometric exercise, such as power weightlifting, may be a particular concern if your pressure is elevated. In general, you don't need to restrict activity if your arm and leg blood pressures are normal. Ask your cardiologist if you should limit any activity.

Pregnancy
Most women with repaired coarctation shouldn't have any difficulties, unless there's residual aortic obstruction or generalized high blood pressure. However, if you have persistent coarctation or any associated problems that might affect you or your baby, check with your physician before considering getting pregnant.

Problems You May Have

Symptoms
Coarctation of the aorta usually doesn't have symptoms. However, if the obstruction becomes severe, you may not tolerate exercise well. You could have a headache or leg pains after exertion. You also might have chest pain or palpitations. Tell your cardiologist promptly about any activity-related symptoms.

congenital heart defects

Aortic Valve Stenosis and Insufficiency

What It Is

The aortic valve lets blood flow from the heart's left ventricle into the aorta. (The aorta is the main artery and distributes oxygen-rich blood throughout the body.) The aortic valve closes after each heartbeat, to keep blood from leaking back into the left ventricle. A normal aortic valve has three leaflets or cusps (tricuspid). Aortic valves abnormal from birth usually have two leaflets (bicuspid), but other variations occur. Only about 2 percent of the population have biscuspid valves. Most bicuspid valves work normally for a long time — sometimes a lifetime. But some can become thick and narrowed (stenotic) or curled at the edges and leaky (insufficient).

Surgical Treatment
If the valve becomes very stenotic, severe pressure builds up in the left ventricle, which can injure the heart. When this occurs, the valve must be opened either 1) in the catheterization lab with a balloon valvotomy catheter or 2) in the operating room by open-heart surgery. You may have had one or both of these procedures as an infant or child.

Valvotomy by either technique doesn't repair the valve. Instead, it helps to lessen the stenosis and pressure in the left ventricle. Some valve leakage is likely to develop after balloon or surgical valvotomy. If your aortic valve no longer responds to valvotomy or has become severely insufficient (leaky), it will probably need to be replaced.

Your aortic valve can be surgically replaced in three ways:

1. The Ross procedure, a surgery in which your aortic valve is removed and replaced by your pulmonary valve. Then your pulmonary valve is replaced with a preserved donor pulmonary valve.
2. Aortic valve replacement with a preserved donor valve.
3. Aortic valve replacement with a mechanical valve.

your cardiologist, cardiac surgeon or both.

When serious stenosis persists by itself or with valve leakage, a more complex surgery may be needed. It will enlarge the part of the left ventricle that leads to the aortic valve (left ventricular outflow tract) when the valve is replaced. This surgery is often called the Konno procedure.

Medical
Everyone with aortic valve disease needs routine follow-up. The severity of your valve problem will dictate how often you'll need to visit the doctor. Stenosis and insufficiency can change as you age, whether or not you've had surgery or catheterization. Your doctor can check for this and other problems that sometimes coexist with aortic valve abnormalities. Medical therapy usually doesn't help people with aortic stenosis. However, medications can help reduce leakage and maintain left ventricle health in some patients with serious aortic valve insufficiency.

Activity Restrictions
If you haven't required aortic valve replacement but have ongoing valve stenosis or insufficiency, your cardiologist may tell you to limit your activity. For instance, heavy weightlifting and other extreme "isometric" exercises excessively strain your aortic valve and left ventricle. Depending on the state of your aortic valve, you

Each option has advantages and disadvantages. Discuss them with may need to limit such exercise. Ask your cardiologist about your exercise limits.

Endocarditis Prevention
People with even mildly abnormal aortic valves are at risk for bacterial endocarditis.

Pregnancy
You should handle pregnancy well if you have mild aortic stenosis or insufficiency. Your risk level depends on the severity of the valve obstruction or leakage. Women who have artificial or mechanical aortic valves, who receive warfarin (Coumadin) anticoagulation, or who receive blood vessel dilators (vasodilators such as Vasotec, Zestril, etc.) to treat severe aortic valve leakage must consult their physician
before considering pregnancy. These medications may injure the developing fetus.

Problems You May Have

Symptoms
Aortic stenosis and insufficiency usually don't have symptoms. However, when either becomes severe, activity may bring shortness of breath, exercise

arrhythmias (such as ventricular tachycardia). These can produce the symptoms described above. If you have any of these symptoms, report them to your physician.

congenital heart defects