Being faced with a decision of whether to have surgery or not is concerning enough in itself. However, when it is related to your heart, it carries even more weight and concern. If you’ve been diagnosed with aortic valve stenosis, you maybe considering whether heart valve replacement surgery is the correct choice for your situation. Nonetheless, to make an informed call, one must understand what aortic stenosis is and how it affects your heart and body.

The aortic valve controls the flow of oxygenated blood from the left ventricle into the aorta. The aorta is the biggest vessel in the body which transports blood from deep inside to the body and it’s major organs. When one develops aortic valve stenosis, the opening that permits the blood to flow from the heart into the aorta starts to narrow. This narrowing causes the heart ( especially the left ventricle ) to compensate by working/pumping harder to maintain blood flow from the heart in to the body. Without treatment (like heart valve replacement) the left ventricle will increase in size and thickness thanks to the added stress of working against the narrow opening. The heart itself may simply be able to support this self-induced compensatory action for a period of years, left untreated it’ll eventually give way to cardiac arrest.

The progression of aortic valve stenosis is comparatively slow. Many folks may have trivial cases of aortic stenosis, but with the body’s capability to compensate, may not realize they have got a problem till symptoms of this disorder happen. Symptoms that go with aortic stenosis and finally lead to heart valve replacement include chest pain especially with exercise, acute wooziness following activity, irregular pulse rate, pulsations and/or trouble breathing. After symptoms happen, the only true treatment is surgery. These symptoms indicate that damage to the valve has occurred and the discussion about replacement is critical.

While most doctors agree that it’s much better to hang around for surgical intervention till symptoms develop, there are the few people that may gain benefit from heart valve replacement prior to symptom presentation. Folks that have aortic stenosis run a higher chance of unexpected death thanks to the chance of cardiac arrest. However, signs of heart failure sometimes precede a lethal event. However, thereis a small number of folk that can have severe stenosis without presenting with symptoms. One indicator may be linked to people that develop low blood pressure during or following exercise. This can suggest possible aortic valve stenosis and these people should seek medical recommendation as quickly as possible. The decision about surgery will be acombined effort between the patient and the varied expert consultants planning and implementing the medical therapy.