Management of multivalvular heart disease

Abstract

Multivalvular heart valve disease is not an uncommon situation. Although many studies include only patients with regurgitation or stenosis involving only one heart valve, several scenarios in which patients present with regurgitation and/or stenosis involving two or more valves exist. Data on multivalve disease are scarce because of a large number of possible combinations and also owing to difficulties of exact quantification and an overlap in surgical indications. Therefore, many fields related to multiple valve disease are not encountered in the current valvular heart disease guidelines. This article aims to explain multi valvular heart disease from etiology and background definition to surgical outcome, with special emphasis on echocardiographic assessment.

Keywords

• multivalvular disease
• echocardiography
• heart valve diseases/etiology/therapy
• heart valve prosthesis; chronic disease.