Heart Failure and Heart Valve Disease: Early Detection and Life Expectancy

It is essential for patients with heart valve disease to understand the facts about heart failure and how it relates to valvular problems like aortic stenosis and mitral regurgitation. Whether heart failure develops along with valve disease or not, once patients begin showing signs of either problem, prompt treatment is imperative to avoid the risk of irreversible heart damage.

To better understand heart failure, valve disease, and the overall outcomes, we spoke with Dr. Laura DiChiacchio, a leading cardiac surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. Dr. DiChiacchio provided several insightful facts about the importance of early detection and treatment to increase the likelihood of restoring normal life expectancy.

Video available online at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCijWSMDLRE

Key Learnings About Valve Disease, Heart Failure and Life Expectancy

Here are the important insights shared by Dr. DiChiacchio:

• Heart failure and valve disease are strongly related. “Valvular disease can lead to heart failure when it’s missed or when it’s not treated appropriately,” said Dr. DiChiacchio. “Additionally, heart failure can exacerbate valvular disease.” Dr. DiChiacchio explained that a poorly functioning or non-functioning valve can lead some patients into heart failure.

• Early detection and treatment are imperative. “As the heart muscle weakens and begins to fail, the valvular disease gets worse and the patient feels sicker,” said Dr. DiChiacchio. “So, there is a lot of emphasis now on early detection and treatment.” She explained that treatment could involve medical therapy or possibly minimally invasive options like transcatheter approaches to treat the valve disease. It could also mean surgery. “It’s very important to see the heart doctor early to get the valve problem under control, avoid developing heart failure and to stop that spiral before it starts making the patient sick.”

• Will treatment restore normal life expectancy? “Absolutely. Once valvular disease is treated appropriately and the development of heart failure is prevented, that expected lifespan is restored. That’s why it’s so important to catch this early.”

Thanks Dr. DiChiacchio and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center!

On behalf of all the patients in our community, thank you, Dr. Laura DiChiaccio, for everything you and your team are doing at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California!

Related links:

• See Dr. DiChiaccio's Interactive Surgeon Profile

Keep on tickin,
Adam

P.S. For the deaf and hard-of-hearing members of our patient community, we have provided a written transcript of our interview with Dr. DiChiaccio below.