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>>> José L. Zamorano, MD: The heart is receiving the blood, and the heart itself has different
chambers inside, so we have the atrium, this is the upper part, the upper chambers. We
have the left and right atrium, and we have the ventricles. This is the left and the right
ventricle. In between those chambers, in between the left atrium and the left ventricle, we
have valve, is like a door that communicates those chambers. In fact there are four cardiac
valves that are the pulmonary, the aortic valve, the tricuspid valve, and the mitral
valve. In a very simple way, the cardiac valves are like doors that communicate with different
chambers. Valvular heart disease is a specific condition
that implies that the valves are not really working, not really functioning in a proper
way. There are two different possibilities. One
is that the valve is not, the door is not open properly just think like a normal door.
So this is what we call stenosis. So a valve is stenotic, when it is not opening in a correct
way, but also it can be that the valve, the door, is opening in an excellent way, but
the problem is that it is not closing. So if it is not closing then is what we call
insufficiency or regurgitation. So it could be for a chamber in the aortic
valve, it is the aortic valve, it could be an aortic stenosis, the aortic valve is not
opening, or it could be that the aortic valve is not closing that is called aortic insufficiency.
Is it prevalent? Well, since the population is getting older and older, and there are
more elderly people, we have much more cases of what we call aortic stenosis, so aortic
valve disease is getting really prevalent in our society. Why is this? Because while
you are getting older, there is also a degeneration, a degenerative process of the valve. The valve
is getting heavily calcified, and therefore is not opening in a proper way. So aortic
stenosis is now getting one of the most common conditions in the developed countries.
How to diagnose that? Well, there are certain symptoms that are different according to the
different valves and according to the different condition is not the same the symptoms for
aortic stenosis and for mitral stenosis or for mitral stenosis to mitral regurgitation,
mitral insufficiency. How to diagnose that? Well, usually when you have a valve disease,
your doctor is what is saying, well, I can hear your murmur. Well, the murmur is simply
the noise that is making the blood while passing through this valve that is diseased. Well,
after your clinical interview, how to diagnose that is really with echocardiography. Echocardiography
and ultrasound is the cornerstone of the diagnosis of valvular disease.