 |
 |
|
|
About the Heart
The heart is a little larger than the size of a fist and is located between the lungs in the middle of the chest. By the end of a long life, a person's heart may have beat (expanded and contracted) more than 3.5 billion times. In fact, each day, the average heart beats 100,000 times, pumping about 2,000 gallons of blood.
The heart has 4 chambers. The upper chambers are called the left and right atria, and the lower chambers are called the left and right ventricles. A wall of muscle called the septum separates the left and right atria and the left and right ventricles. The left ventricle is the largest and strongest chamber in the heart. The left ventricle's chamber walls are only about a half-inch thick, but they have enough force to push blood through the aortic valve and into the body.
Normal Heart and How it Works
About Heart Valve Disease
Heart valve disease was once thought to only be a condition that resulted from rheumatic fever. However, despite the use of antibiotics and the decline of rheumatic fever in the United States, the prevalence of valvular heart disease remains high today. This is because there are several forms of valvular heart disease including aortic stenosis, degenerative mitral regurgitation, and valve disease resulting from coronary artery disease that increase with age. As the population continues to live longer, the prevalence of valve disease is expected to also increase.
Click on the topics below to learn more about specific types of valve disease:
Aortic Stenosis
Aortic Regurgitation
Aortic Aneurysm
Endocarditis
Mitral Valve Prolapse
Mitral Stenosis
Mitral Regurgitation
Pulmonary Valve Stenosis
Subaortic Valve Stenosis
Tricuspid Valve Disease
|
|
|
|