Acquired heart valve disease, a type of valvular heart disease, is acquired as a person gets older, and mostly affects people in their 60s to 80s.​ It happens when heart valves w​​​ear out, hardening and restri​​​cting blood flow in the heart.

According to Clinical Professor Yeo Khung Keong​, Senior Consultant from the De​​partment of Cardiology at National Heart Centre Singapore​ (NHCS), a member of the SingHealth​ group,​ ​it (acquired heart valve disease) is quite different from congenital heart valve disease, which is present from birth and can be hereditary.

Acquired heart valve disease takes a long time to show up, as the heart has the ability to work harder and compensate for the valves’ reduced efficiency.

Symptoms include:

• Shortness of breath,
• Tiredness,
• Chest pain,
• Fainting spells and
• Swelling in the legs

“Initially, patients may find walking okay, but running more difficult. They may take longer to walk to the market and experience difficulty in climbing stairs,” said Clin Prof Yeo.

Doctors can detect the condition when listening to the heart with a stethoscope.

“We can check for heart murmurs, but because murmurs can also occur in normal, healthy people, the definitive way to diagnose it is through echocardiography (ultrasound of the heart). It can tell us if the heart valve is opening and closing properly, and if it is calcified or damaged,” said Prof Yeo.

However, although it is a condition that is predominantly age-related, heart valves can wear out due to other causes such as infection, heart attacks and high blood pressure as well.

Treatment for aquired heart valve disease

The disease can be treated with surgery, but there are risks involved.

“Doctors use medicines to help the heart initially. When the disease gets too severe, they can do open-heart surgery but there are risks of heart attack, infection or stroke, and even death. So, we have to balance the need for treatment and the risk of complications,” said Clin Prof Yeo.

Surgical options include valve replacement using valve leaflets harvested from pig or cow tissue, and implanting metal or plastic valves in the heart. He added that, unfortunately, some types of acquired heart valve disease (e.g. aortic stenosis) are related to the natural progression of age.

“While we may be able to delay the onset of certain types of valvular disease, other types are more difficult to prevent,” Clin Prof Yeo said.

He said the risk of getting some types of acquired heart valve disease (e.g. mitral valve regurgitation) can be reduced by treating conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure, and by not smoking, to prevent heart attacks.

It is also important to pay attention to diet, and exercise regularly. Practicing good dental hygiene can also help since bad teeth can cause a heart infection, which can lead to valve damage.