Congenital valve disease

At Aurora, we know how managing a heart condition present at birth can affect your daily life and activities as an adult. That’s why we have a specialized heart center dedicated to adult congenital heart disease. At this recognized center of excellence, you’ll find the most highly skilled specialists, genetic counseling, the latest treatments – and the care you need delivered with a personal touch.

What is congenital valve disease?

Congenital valve disease happens when one or more of the heart’s four valves doesn’t develop properly before birth. Sometimes the defect keeps the valve from closing completely, which means blood flows backward and the heart has to work extra hard to pump it out again. Over time, that strain can cause serious issues such as dilated cardiomyopathy, heart failure, and aortic aneurysms.

Congenital valve disease symptoms

You may not even know you have congenital valve disease until middle age, when symptoms tend to develop, such as:

• Chest pain
• Dizziness or fainting
• Fatigue
• Shortness of breath
• Stronger heart murmurs or palpitations
• Worsening symptoms with physical activity

Congenital valve disease diagnosis

To diagnose congenital valve disease, your doctor will give you a thorough physical exam and ask about your symptoms and family history. They’ll listen to your heart with a stethoscope to check for a heart murmur and may order additional tests for you, like:

• Cardiac catheterization
• Chest X-ray, CT scan or MRI
• Echocardiogram, including transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE)
• Electrocardiogram (EKG)
• Genetic testing

Find out more about our heart and vascular testing and diagnosis.

Congenital valve disease treatment

To treat your heart valve disease, we’ll work with you on a plan tailored to you. Your doctor may recommend:

• Careful monitoring
• Medication
• Valve repair or replacement, using minimally invasive or open-heart procedures, such as balloon valvuloplasty. In this common and highly successful procedure, we thread a catheter with a small balloon on the end through a blood vessel from the groin to the aortic valve and inflate the balloon to stretch the heart valve.