What are the symptoms of valvular heart diseases?
Usual symptoms are getting tired easily, palpitations, breathlessness on exertion, chest pain and in some, dizziness and fainting. In advanced stage, swelling of ankles, legs and face can occur. When the disease is mild or moderate, it causes minimal or no symptoms. At times, patients may remain well even with a severely diseased valve due to compensatory mechanisms. However, there would be ongoing damage to the heart and lungs. These are the unlucky patients who might present to the doctor in a late stage beyond the stage of suitability for surgery. As there is no clear correlation between the symptom and the degree of underlying disease, one should not postpone the treatment. How is this condition diagnosed? The doctor detects the murmur at the chest. He can find features of enlarged heart chambers. ECG and chest X ray would give further clues and usually, an echo cardiogram is needed for complete evaluation of the valve disease. At times, patients would be asked to do treadmill exer
