What happens when a heart valve is damaged?
A damaged heart valve either does not completely close (insufficiency) or does not completely open (stenosis). A heart valve that does not close properly, allows blood leak back into the chamber from which it was pumped. This is called regurgitation or leakage. With the next heartbeat, this blood flows through the valve and mixes with blood that flows normally. This extra volume of blood passing through the heart puts added strain to the heart muscle. When a heart valve doesn’t open enough, the heart must pump harder than the normal to force blood through the narrowed opening. Usually there are no symptoms of this until the opening becomes very narrow.
