their heart valves may thicken and stiffen, reducing their efficiency. Congenital Defects: Some individuals are born with abnormal heart valves, which can cause problems later in life. Rheumatic ...

allowing blood to leak backwards into the heart chamber rather than flowing forward into the heart or the relevant artery. In stenosis, valves thicken, stiffen or simple fuse together, thereby ...

With stenosis, it has to work harder to pump blood through a narrowed valve. When the valve leaks, the heart has to strain so the body gets enough oxygen-rich blood. All of this extra work can make ...

For conditions such as truncus arteriosus and severe aortic stenosis without good function, infants not only need new heart valves and arteries to survive, but the new tissue also needs to grow ...

In rheumatic heart disease, an autoimmune attack on the mitral valve produces thickening of the valve leaflets. The mitral valve is often described as having a "fish-mouth" appearance. Whether the ...