“What Do Calcified Heart Valves Look Like?” Asks Tanya
By Adam Pick on July 6, 2010
I just received an interesting question from Tanya about calcified heart valve leaflets.
Tanya writes, “Dear Adam – I am hoping you can help me better understand my diagnosis of mitral stenosis. The doctor mentioned that I am moderate-to-severe and could be facing surgery soon. The cardiologist also said that my valve may be calcified. I’m curious…. Do you have any pictures of a calcified valve? Thanks! Tanya”
Like Tanya, I also wanted to know what a calcified heart valve looked like when I was diagnosed with aortic stenosis – prior to my heart valve replacement surgery. That said, I did locate the following pictures of a mitral valve and an aortic valve that are both calcified.
The above picture shows a mitral valve in which the two mitral valve leaflets are severely calcified. The picture below shows an aortic valve in which all three leaflets are calcified.
I hope this helps Tanya (and all of us) learn a little bit more about heart valves that suffer from calcified leaflets. As they say, “A picture is worth a 1,000 words.”
Keep on tickin!
Adam
Written by Adam Pick
- Patient & Website Founder
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Laura says on July 7th, 2010 at 4:30 pm |
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I had the same prior to my valve replacement 3 years ago. My bad news was that they think that some of that calcification broke off and gave me a mini stroke. Scary, but brain fully recovered. |
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Geoff Stuart says on July 7th, 2010 at 5:16 pm |
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Tanya, I just had my aortic valve replaced four weeks ago. The anesthesiologist took some great pictures. I can’t attach them here but if you (or anyone else reading this) want to see a truly seriously calcified congenital bicuspid aortic valve, email me at gdstuart at gmail.com and I’ll send you the pic. Geoff Stuart PS – I’m composing an article for Adam and will get it to him in a week or so. Isn’t his site a great benefit to us who have to undergo these procedures? PPS – Rode my bike ten miles last weekend, less than one month after surgery! |
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Nina says on July 18th, 2010 at 3:47 pm |
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Hi people, Does anyone out there have congestive heart failure along with leaky valves? I have a mitral valve that needs replacing and a bicuspid that will get the ring around it to support a small tear. It is supposed to improve things for my CHF but they don’t know how far. Thanks, Nina |
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David Bauer says on May 6th, 2012 at 11:10 pm |
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My name id dqvid im 27 years old and was born with a bicuspid aortic valve. But last year i passedmout at work. When i got to the hospital they took a battery of tests. They found out i have a calcified bycuspid aortic valve. My heart doc told me im to young for this problem and to call him next year and thatsbthe last i heard from him. Well today 5/6/2012 i again passed out at church but this time i turned as white as a ghost. I was also having severe chest pain and dizzyness. Thats what they told me anyway. Well got to the hispital and they took blood and said well nothin wrong go home. Should this be something i need to worry about? |
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