A healthy heart is a strong organ that works continuously and without failures. Its size corresponds to the size of a man’s fist, and its weight is about five hundred grams. In addition to its main function of providing normal (stable) blood flow, it is able to adapt to regularly changing needs of the body.
Working as a two-way pump, the heart circulates the blood throughout the body. With the help of the muscle wall (septum) it is divided into halves. Each half contains two chambers (atria and ventricles).
All blood from the lower and upper parts of the body enters the right atrium. The tricuspid valve sends blood to the right ventricle, which pumps blood through the valve of the trunk of the lungs. Enriched with oxygen, it goes to the left atrium. From there, blood flows through the mitral valve into the left ventricle, which distributes blood throughout the body through the aortic valve. Having supplied the tissue with oxygen, it, depleted, enters the right atrium again.
Heart valves are one-way “doors” between cameras. They not only support the movement of blood forward, but also prevent its movement back. Healthy heart valves have petals consisting of thin, flexible tissue of normal shape. With cardiac relaxation and contractions, closing and opening occurs without malfunction.
Birth defects can cause pathology. Heart valves can become scarred or be damaged as a result of infection, rheumatic fever, hereditary pathology, heart attacks. Damage can also be caused due to human age. The mitral valve is most at risk. In this case, regulation occurs (mitral insufficiency), in which blood flows from the valve in the opposite direction after closing its valves. In this case, the work of the heart becomes more intense - it tries to supply the necessary amount of blood to the body and make up for the deficiency. Damage to heart valves also includes stenosis (narrowing of the valve opening), in which blood passes poorly through the valve. In this case, the organ also begins to work more intensely in order to let enough blood pass through the narrow opening. Such additional tension in the heart weakens it, leads to its increase and causes various diseases.
In many cases, people taking the necessary medications and under proper medical supervision, having heart disease, live a full life. However, it happens that medications either do not bring effect, or become hazardous to health. Depending on the condition, the doctor may prescribe the restoration or replacement of the mitral valve. However, with severe deformations or damage, restoration will not bring the desired result. In such difficult situations, a heart valve replacement is necessary. Surgical intervention is necessary for the manifestation of symptoms of chronic heart failure and for a significant decrease in blood flow from the left ventricle (impaired systolic function).
Reconstruction (restoration, plastic) of the valve is carried out while maintaining its own heart valve. Moreover, after surgery, the patient does not need to constantly take blood-thinning medications.
In case of severe damage that cannot be repaired, valve replacement (prosthetics) is prescribed. To do this, use mechanical (artificial) or biological (tissue) prostheses.
Mechanical heart valves are very reliable and durable, do not require replacement. However, they have a significant drawback - to prevent blood coagulation, the patient is prescribed appropriate medications for life after surgery.
Biological prostheses are made from chemically treated lobes of animal hearts (horses, cows or pigs). After installing the tissue prosthesis of the valve, the patient is not prescribed medications that thin the blood. However, the life of the prosthesis is limited in time and after a certain period (ten to fifteen years) is destroyed, as a result of which a second operation is possible.