Aortic Stenosis

Aortic Stenosis - General Information

• The heart is a contractile tissue composed by four valves and four chambers. The left atrium and the right one, which form together the upper chamber, are protected by a thin membrane. Normally, the blood must circulate from the left and the right atria to the left and right ventricles, which compose together the lower rooms, through the mitral and tricuspid valves. The lower chamber is, in contrast, protected by a dense wall which has a great role in assuring a normal circulation of the blood.
• The heart valves have also an important part in this mechanism as they are responsible to close and to open at the correct moment in order to assure a normal beat cycle. In addition, they must prevent the flowing of the blood.
• Furthermore, the blood passes through the arteries in order to assure an adequate quantity of oxygen and other nutritional substances and to eliminate the carbon dioxide. 
• The blood filled with oxygen will eventually return to the atrium and it will be spread throughout the arteries of the body.

Aortic Stenosis - Symptoms

Aortic Stenosis - Treatment

Unlike other diseases, Aortic Stenosis can be diagnosed before the symptoms appear. In what concerns the sufferers who present a minor type of the disease, they do not need to change their life style, their daily routine and they do not have to follow a treatment. Those with a moderate form of the disorder are told by the doctor to keep of the exhausting activities such as sprinting or weight lifting. Aortic Stenosis is usually expected to develop over a period of a few years and that is the reason why your doctor should prescribe you annual consults. As this disorder affects the aortic tissues, patients are usually given antibiotics in order to prevent the appearance of bacteria. The most common antibiotics used are amoxicillin, ampicillin, erythromycin, gentamicin and vancomycin. The situations which can lead to the appearance of bacteria in the bloodstream are represented by certain surgeries, gynecologic procedures, colonoscopies or even minor actions, such as dental work.

Furthermore, when syncope, chest pain, shortness of breath or any other symptoms appear the surgery is neither recommended. In the contrary, doctors will probably use medical therapy and the use of certain drugs; one of these will probably be a diuretic for decreasing the pressure in the lungs and for removing the fluids in this tissue. In the most dramatic case, when the valve is completely affected, the patients must take surgery. This is not extremely dangerous as the mortality rate of this procedure is about 5% and it does not depend at all if the sufferer is old. Surprisingly, if the patient is over 60, this intervention and the replacement of the valve will actually improve the strength of his heart muscles. In most of the cases, the aortic valve is obtained from a cow or a pig and these tissues have a life period of about 15 years. This option for treating Aortic Stenosis is mostly used for patients over 70 years as, if it is used on young patients, the tissue will rapidly degenerate and calcify. Another option to perform this surgery in order to save people who suffer from Aortic Stenosis is using the aortic valves taken from a dead person; but the accessibility of these is uncertain and so is the life period of these tissues. The latest option is the “Ross Procedure” which consists of removing the valve from the pulmonary tissue to the heart and replacing it with a pulmonic valve obtained from another person. 

Mechanical prostheses are known to be extremely durable, with a life period of about 35 years; the bad part is the fact that they require a permanent treatment with anticoagulation drugs in order not to appear certain clot formation on the exterior of the valves, because these formations can reach the brain and cause sudden death or other problems. If needed, the aortic valve can be enlarged during surgery using a balloon catheter and this can even offer long term benefits for the patients with Aortic Stenosis. These can include a better functionality of the muscles or heart function.