Question 1

does some leakage of heart valves show in everyones hert echo?

Accepted Answer

Depends: Trace to mild amount of leakage is considered normal in right heart valves. It is not uncommon to see trace amount of leakage on the left side in normal individuals. Leakage of the valves is also somewhat dynamic depending on pressures, can be seen at times but not all the time.

Question 2

dr. says i have trace regurgitation in 3 heart valves. only recommending yearly echos to check on it. is this normal im otherwise healthy?

Accepted Answer

Just a trace.: Trace regurgitation is usually nothing of immediate concern - it wouldn't cause any symptoms and may just be reflective of the way your valves open and close normally and thereby may never progress beyond trace.  Yearly 2D echo is recommended to make sure trace regurgitation doesn't become mild, then moderate and then severe, but this doesn't always happen.

Question 3

d dimer 0.93, found 4.5 taaw/ct angio/w/contrast, echo, mildthickening of left ventricle&atrium, slight regurgitation of all heart valves.mean?

Accepted Answer

Need more info: Making a diagnosis is more than looking at numbers. It takes physical exam and knowing the medical history. The best person to give you the answer you seek is the cardiologist.

Question 4

where are the heart valves?

Accepted Answer

4 locations: The first valve blood crosses  is the tricuspid valve between the right atrium and right ventricle. Blood then flows across the pulmonic valve between the right ventricle and the lungs on its way to the lungs where it picks up oxygen and discards waste. It returns to the left atrium and crosses the mitral valve between the left atrium and left ventricle. It then exits across the aortic valve.

Question 5

which heart valves usually need replacing?

Accepted Answer

Mitral and aortic: The valves in the left side of the heart.

Question 6

what are types of prosthetic heart valves?

Accepted Answer

Valves: The two main types are tissue and mechanical. Tissue valves can come from cows, pigs or humans. Mechanical valves are tilting disc or ball, the ball valves are rarely seen now.

Question 7

does alcohol affect heart valves, does it weaken them.?

Accepted Answer

Alcohol: May be not so much heart valves as heart itself. It can cause alcoholic cardiomyopathy, which means that heart is big and also getting weak.

Question 8

does drug abuse/sniffing effect or damage your heart valves?

Accepted Answer

Valve damage: If you develop an endocarditis then certainly yes. even if you develop a bacterial infection in your blood then yes.

Question 9

during a heart cath, can the catheters damage the heart valves?

Accepted Answer

Catheters : One of the complication of passing catheters into the heart is valve damage.

Question 10

how close are we to "growing" our own heart valves using stem cells?

Accepted Answer

Not tomorrow but : Hope soon , tissue growth from stem cells is reaching new horizons, already wind pipe 9 trachea ) was grown and used . Heart valves not yet , scientist are working

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Doctor answers about:

Echo pictures of heart and valves

A member asked:

Does some leakage of heart valves show in everyones hert echo?

A member asked:

Dr. says i have trace regurgitation in 3 heart valves. only recommending yearly echos to check on it. is this normal im otherwise healthy?

A member asked:

D dimer 0.93, found 4.5 taaw/ct angio/w/contrast, echo, mildthickening of left ventricle&atrium, slight regurgitation of all heart valves.mean?

A member asked:

Where are the heart valves?

A member asked:

Which heart valves usually need replacing?

A member asked:

What are types of prosthetic heart valves?

A member asked:

Does alcohol affect heart valves, does it weaken them.?

A member asked:

Does drug abuse/sniffing effect or damage your heart valves?

A member asked:

During a heart cath, can the catheters damage the heart valves?

A member asked:

How close are we to "growing" our own heart valves using stem cells?

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