The aortic valve is one of the main valves in your heart.
Its job is to make sure that oxygen-rich blood flows from the main pumping chamber of the heart (the left ventricle), through to the main blood vessel (the aorta) and then out to the rest of the body.
The valve closes after each heart beat so that blood doesn’t leak back into the ventricle.
However, in aortic valve disease, there is an abnormality which means it doesn’t work properly.
There are two main types of aortic valve disease.
Aortic stenosis (narrowed valve)
If the aortic valve is narrowed it will not open properly and obstructs the flow of blood through the heart. This might be because the leaflets (flaps) in the valve are thickened or stuck. The heart then has to work harder to pump blood through the narrowed valve.
This is called aortic stenosis. It causes symptoms such as breathlessness and, if left untreated, can cause death.
Aortic regurgitation (leaky valve)
If the aortic valve does not close properly, this means blood can leak backwards, the wrong way, out of the aorta and back into the ventricle. A leaky valve means the heart has to work harder than normal as it needs to pump out the extra blood that has leaked back into the ventricle.
This is called aortic regurgitation.
Mixed aortic valve disease
In some cases the valve can be narrowed and leaky. This is described as 'mixed' aortic valve disease.
Treatments
There are two main ways to treat a diseased aortic valve.
Open heart surgery
Aortic valve surgery is an operation in which a narrowed or leaky aortic valve is replaced by a valve made out of tissue or artificial material, or repaired using your own tissue.
Transcutaneous aortic valve insertion (TAVI)
The TAVI procedure is an alternative to open heart surgery to deal with various types of aortic valve disease, but mainly aortic stenosis. It is a minimally invasive approach.
Royal Papworth Hospital is recognised as one of the leading centres in the UK for TAVI.