What is valvular heart disease (VHD)?

What is valvular heart disease (VHD)?

• A. Damage or defect in one of the four heart valves.
• B. Blockage of coronary arteries.
• C. Disorder of the heart's electrical conduction system.
• D. Inflammation of the pericardium.

Answer: (A)

Valvular heart disease is damage or defect in one of the heart’s four valves, which control blood flow through the heart. Each valve can become stenotic (narrowed) or regurgitant (leaky), so the heart has to work harder, and blood may not move forward efficiently. This can lead to symptoms like shortness of breath, fatigue, chest discomfort, or swelling, especially if the condition is severe. VHD can be present from birth or develop later in life due to factors such as rheumatic fever, calcification with aging, infections, or prior heart damage. Diagnosis is typically by echocardiography, which visualizes valve structure and function and shows how well the valve opens and closes and whether blood leaks backward. Treatments range from monitoring in mild cases to medications for symptom control, and sometimes valve repair or replacement surgery for more advanced disease. This description matches valvular heart disease, which centers on damage or defects in the heart valves. The other options describe different problems: blockage of coronary arteries is coronary artery disease; a disorder of the heart’s electrical conduction system refers to arrhythmias; inflammation of the pericardium is pericarditis.

Valvular heart disease is damage or defect in one of the heart’s four valves, which control blood flow through the heart. Each valve can become stenotic (narrowed) or regurgitant (leaky), so the heart has to work harder, and blood may not move forward efficiently. This can lead to symptoms like shortness of breath, fatigue, chest discomfort, or swelling, especially if the condition is severe. VHD can be present from birth or develop later in life due to factors such as rheumatic fever, calcification with aging, infections, or prior heart damage. Diagnosis is typically by echocardiography, which visualizes valve structure and function and shows how well the valve opens and closes and whether blood leaks backward. Treatments range from monitoring in mild cases to medications for symptom control, and sometimes valve repair or replacement surgery for more advanced disease.

This description matches valvular heart disease, which centers on damage or defects in the heart valves. The other options describe different problems: blockage of coronary arteries is coronary artery disease; a disorder of the heart’s electrical conduction system refers to arrhythmias; inflammation of the pericardium is pericarditis.