Disease of The Aortic Valve
There are two protypical processes that can affect the aortic valve - aortic stenosis in which the valve fails to open fully, thereby obstructing blood flow out from the heart, and aortic insufficiency, also called aortic regurgitation, in which the aortic valve is incompetent and blood flows passively back to the heart in the wrong direction. These two conditions frequently co-exist.
- Common causes of aortic stenosis include rheumatic fever, degenerative calcification, and congenital diseases such as bicuspid aortic valve.
- Common causes of aortic regurgitation include dilation of the aorta, previous rheumatic fever, infection, i.e. infective endocarditis, myxomatous degeneration of the aortic valve, and Marfan's syndrome.
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