What would cause a hole in heart valve?!


Question: What would cause a hole in heart valve?
My sister just contacted me. She has been on high pressure pills. Now she went back to Doctor. He listened to her heart and sent her to have a test. They say they found a hole in her heart value.

Answers:

Nearly all heart valves leak, but some leak more than others. Minor leaks are called murmurs and most are not serious, but its a good idea to get them checked out when first discovered. Most leaks are present at birth, but leaks can develop from side effects of an infection, indirectly from other heart problems, or changes in the stretchiness of the valve tissues as a person ages.



There almost certainly is no actual hole in the valve; rather she probably has a leak in one of her 4 valves, arising because its leaflets do not close completely (a common occurrence). Without knowing which valve or how much of a leak, it's not possible to say whether this is something to be worried about. Most leaks are neither hereditary nor congenital, but there are some conditions that cause leaks that do run in families.
A murmur, by the way, is the sound the blood makes from turbulence when it leaks; it is NOT the leak itself.



Since she "knows" there is a leak she should probably have a stress test. Probably they will do the test with the dye in it so they can measure the rate of the leak. This way it can be determined if the valve needs repairing or replacing.

I had this trouble in 1998, had my aortic valve replaced with a donor valve. Its been working good. I was 52 at the time.



Check the side effects of the pills, they may have caused it.

Iatrogenic illness is the leading cause of death in the USA.




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