Aortic stenosis is a serious, progressive heart valve disease that mostly affects people over 80, though symptoms can appear as early as your 50s or 60s.
Dr. Ahmed Elkaryoni, a cardiologist at Memorial Health, explains what it is.
“There are four valves in the heart, okay,” he said, “There are two on the right side and two on the left side. One valve on the left side is called the aortic valve. That’s where blood would go everywhere. It goes to the brain, supplies all the organs, the lungs, liver, kidneys and everything.”
He added, “So with aging, there’s calcium deposition on the aortic valve and it starts to get tight in the way it opens. It starts with mild, goes to moderate, goes to severe. It takes years for the progression, but unfortunately, it’s a progressive disease and there is no medicine to control the progression.”
As the disease progresses, it can go from mild to severe or even critical, and that can lead to serious consequences, including sudden cardiac death.
It is mostly asymptomatic in its early stages. Here’s what to look out for as it progresses.
“They feel lightheaded, dizzy, shortness of breath, chest pain. Some people do lose consciousness when it’s really severely tight because there is no blood flow going to their brain,” Elkaryoni said.
The progression of aortic stenosis varies from person to person. It can take years for the condition to become severe. However, it is still important to check up on it, even in the early stages, and especially in the late stages.
“How long does it take? How long do I stay in the mild,” Elkaryoni said, “People are different in the way they progress, but what we know is that every six months that valve gets a little bit more tight and the flow across the valve increases. You know, when you have a tight thing and the flow just kind of goes faster across this narrow opening. So we measure that with the echocardiogram.”
He added, “Mild to moderate may take years; moderate may take a few years until you reach severe. Once you hit the range of moderate to severe, every six months you should get an echocardiogram to evaluate for the severity. Once you hit the severe range, you have to be treated.”
For years, “SAVR,” or surgical aortic valve replacement, was one of the few options that could treat aortic stenosis. SAVR involves opening the chest to operate, which may not be an option for elderly patients.
However, a new minimally invasive option called “TAVR” is coming to Memorial Health soon.
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