Description
Your aortic valve pushes the oxygen-rich blood out to the body. When stenosis (narrowing) occurs, your heart must work harder to push the blood out. Over time, the narrowing limits the amount of blood reaching the body. This can lead to complications, including heart failure. Aortic stenosis has many causes, including:
- Congenital heart defect
- Calcium build up
- Rheumatic fever
Symptoms
If you suffer from Aortic Stenosis, the major symptoms are:
- Chest pain
- Fainting
- Shortness of breath
Diagnosis
In order to diagnose aortic stenosis, your doctor will need to run tests, including:
- Echocardiogram
- Electrocardiogram(ECG)
- Chest X-ray
- Exercise or stress tests
- Cardiac computerized tomography (CT) scan
- Cardiac MRI
- Cardiac catheterization
Treatment
The treatment your doctor recommends will depend upon a variety of factors, including the severity of your condition, what kinds of symptoms you display, and if your condition is getting any worse. If you’re not displaying sever symptoms, your doctor may just monitor your condition and schedule regular follow-up appointments along with some lifestyle change recommendations to help reduce the risk of you developing any complications. Your doctor may also prescribe medications to treat the condition.
If your doctor determines that your condition requires intervention, surgery may be recommended, although less invasive measures will also be considered.