Q. How is heart valve disease treated?

Heart valve disease, also known as valvular heart disease (VHD), is a condition that affects the functioning of one or more of the four valves in the heart. Treatment options depend on the type and severity of your VHD. Generally, it can be managed either with medication, minimally-invasive valve repair procedures, or open-heart surgery to replace a diseased valve.

Medication: Your doctor may start you on medications to reduce symptoms and improve how well your heart works. Common treatments include beta blockers to help lower blood pressure and slow down your heart rate; diuretics to reduce fluid buildup; vasodilators for improving blood flow through narrowed vessels; anticoagulants to prevent clots from forming inside damaged valves; and antiplatelets for reducing inflammation near affected valves.

Minimally Invasive Valve Repair Procedures: Depending on which type of VHD you’re dealing with, there are several catheter-based interventional techniques available that can be used to treat stenotic (narrowed) or regurgitant (leaky) valves without having to do open-heart surgery. These treatments typically involve threading thin wire “catheters” through an artery in the leg up into the arteries around your heart then using balloon dilation or ultrasound energy placed at strategic spots on the surface of a defective valve can correct these problems quite effectively. This method has been shown in certain cases to provide better long term results compared with open-heart surgery while avoiding some risks associated with it such as infection risk and damage done during bypass surgery when performed traditionally via open chest cavity technique .

Open-Heart Surgery: In cases where medical management fails or if tissue inside a valve is severely impaired due from rheumatic fever, degenerative calcification or endocarditis—surgical removal & replacement may become necessary where our surgeons will perform an operation called valvular replacement using mechanical prosthetic parts made from metals like titanium & stainless steel which are designed to function similarly as natural tissue does in facilitating unidirectional expulsion & intake flow depending upon position(systole/diastole). The new prostheses consist of two separate components : an inner artificial disc housed within an annular frame that forms three larger leaflets so as ensure successful implantation followed by accurate hemodynamic performance once integrated together.. Patients who undergo this procedure have improved quality life afterwards by alleviating symptoms primarily due inward pressure recollected by malfunctioning cardiac channels caused mostly due obstruction impacted onto them originally by diseased organs prior going under knife..

In conclusion, treatment for VHD depends largely upon its cause and severity level along with individual patient characteristics such as age risk factors etc which need thorough evaluation before choosing most appropriate therapy option selected out among many choices including medication , minimally invasive procedures ,open chest surgeries amongst others mentioned here.. It is important get regular checkups done after any sort treatment was prescribed so that any underlying issues can be identified early thus preventing further complications related thereto issue being handled firstly .