• Headquarters
• 451 Aviation Blvd, Suite 107 A, Santa Rosa, CA 95403, USA
• Phone: 707 576 0420 | Fax: 707 576 0430
• 
• Technology Center
• 105 North Pointe Drive, Lake Forest, CA 92630-2225, USA
• Phone: 949 707 0010 | Fax: 949 707 0020
•  
• info@directflowmedical.com

Aortic Valve Disease

The Structure and Function of Heart Valves

Your heart is a pump. It pumps blood that brings nourishment (food and oxygen) to the organs and tissues of your body.

Your heart has four chambers. The chambers on the right side of your heart pump blood only to your lungs; the chambers on the left side pump blood to the rest of your body. The chambers on the left side are thicker and stronger than those on the right.

There are four heart valves. Their function is to ensure that blood flows forward as your heart contracts and relaxes. The valves are made of thin flaps of tissue that open and close as your heart contracts.

Heart Valve Disease

Heart valves may not always work as well as they should. Several things can cause the valves to not work properly. When disease or age causes the tissue to thicken and harden, the valve fails to open properly and blocks or interferes with blood flow. This blocking process is called stenosis. When a heart valve becomes weak or stretched, it may not close properly. If that happens, blood can leak back through the opening.

This leakage is called regurgitation, incompetence or insufficiency. Any problem with a heart valve greatly increases your heart’s work. The increase in work may cause the heart muscle to enlarge or thicken to make up for the extra workload. If the valve does not work properly, the standard treatment is to replace it. However, to replace the aortic valve a patient usually has to have open-heart surgery.