Aortic valve problems arise when
the left ventricle has to work harder than usual, usually in instances when
some essential features of the area malfunctions. The aortic heart valve replacement is needed to cure two
serious complications, these are Aortic valve stenosis and Aortic valve
regurgitation. The Aortic valve stenosis is caused by narrowing of the gap
between heart's lower left chamber and aorta. This narrowing causes the lower
left chamber of heart to pump harder to pass sufficient blood to the body. Such
cases are mostly marked by the presence of only two flaps (or leaflets) instead
of customary three. Aortic valve regurgitation, on the other hand causes a
back-flow of blood from the aorta to aortic valve into the left ventricle. When
there is a high blood back-flow into the heart, it increases the workload of
the left ventricle, causing some serious complications.
When the doctor, through
preliminary physical examination and test results diagnoses an acute aortic
valve disorder, you would be put on medications and therapies. If these
treatment methods do not reap desired results, then you would be recommended to
see the best surgeon for heart valve replacement in your locality. The
most common heart valve replacement surgical option is open heart surgery. This
surgical procedure takes about 2-4 hours, during which your heart is stopped
and the functions are put on a heart-lung machine. The surgeon than creates a
large incision to remove the diseased valve and replace with an artificial
heart valve.
In the modern times, there are
also options to perform minimally invasive as well catheter procedures for heart
valve replacement. Apart from this, there some types of artificial valves to choose from. They can be
mechanical or bioprosthetic (made of animal tissue) in nature. People can
expect to return back to work within 10-12 weeks after the surgery, depending
on their profession.