Who Is At Risk for Heart Valve Disease?
Older people are more likely to develop heart valve disease. It’s estimated that 1 in 8 people age 75 or older have at least moderate heart valve disease. People who have a history of endocarditis, rheumatic fever, heart attack, or heart failure or previous heart valve disease are more likely to develop heart valve disease. About 1 to 2 percent of people are born with an aortic valve that has two flaps instead of three. Sometimes an aortic valve may have three flaps, but two flaps are fused together and act as one flap. This is called a bicuspid or bicommissural aortic valve. People who have this congenital condition are more likely to develop aortic heart valve disease.
