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Heart Valve Disease Awareness Day, celebrated around the world on February 22, is a reminder that everyone 75 and older should be screened for aortic stenosis, according to a report from the media.
Aortic stenosis is one of the diseases of the heart valves that, if left untreated, causes death. But even when they suffer from chest pain, shortness of breath, and dizziness, some older people avoid visiting the doctor for a long time.
“By postponing a visit to a family doctor, people reject the opportunity to live better and longer,” notes the cardiologist, prof. Dr. Ramūnas Unikas, who has saved many patients during his long internship at the Cardiology Clinic of the Kaunas Clinics.
According to Professor R. Unik, it is GPs and cardiologists who have a very important task: to inform and remind potential patients and their families about the symptoms and possible consequences of heart valve disease. After all, if severe aortic stenosis is not treated, only half of patients survive more than two years.
Heart valve disease is usually caused by a pronounced systolic murmur at the thoracic point of the aortic valve. After questioning the patient with a cardiac stethoscope and noticing signs of the disease, the family physician should refer the patient to a cardiologist for a more detailed examination.
“Effective treatment can be applied to patients aged 70, 80 or older,” says prof. Dr. R. Unikas.
The most appropriate treatment is selected by a team of cardiologists who evaluate the clinical and anatomical characteristics of each patient. Generally, one of two methods is chosen: open aortic valve surgery or transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI).
It is the TAVI treatment method that cardiologists call significant progress, as this minimally invasive procedure can be applied to extremely high-risk patients, as well as ensuring a faster recovery of patients and a return to normal life.
The first TAVI procedure at the Hospital of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences at the Kaunas Clinics was performed exactly 10 years ago. According to prof. Dr. R. Uniko, during this time the indications have expanded, now the TAVI procedure can be performed even in cases where the risk of surgery for the patient is medium or low.
According to the European Society of Cardiology, in Lithuania, the TAVI procedure could be performed in more than 1,000 patients per year. Meanwhile, last year the number of procedures performed in our country was 5 times less.
Studies in different countries show that total heart valve disease currently affects about 2.5 percent. planet’s population, most of whom are 75 years or older.
Aortic stenosis usually affects people of respectable age, as calcium gradually builds up in the candles of the aortic valve over the years, causing them to harden and harden – the valve cannot open and close properly, its opening narrows. With impaired aortic valve function, blood from the heart cannot flow normally to the aorta; the heart needs to contract harder to expel blood. The heart is able to bear a greater load for some time, but as the pathology ages, the ventricle weakens, enlarges, dilates, and does not contract properly. As a result, patients experience shortness of breath, fatigue, dizziness, and fainting.
People with the disease are forced to limit their normal physical activities and their quality of life deteriorates. A serious, untreated disease progresses and can lead to heart failure or even sudden death.
As society ages, heart valve disease is projected to become a new epidemic, as in 2040. The number of patients in the world will double by 2060 and by 2060 – triple.
In Western European countries alone, about half a million new cases of aortic stenosis are diagnosed each year.
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