There are four valves inside the heart (tricuspid, pulmonary, mitral, and aortic) that act like one-way valves in the chambers. They keep blood from flowing backwards through the heart. Healthy heart valves should be fairly thin and soft, opening and closing with the contraction and diastole of the heart. Many causes can result in heart valve damage, such as congenital malformations, aging, and myocardial infarction, with damage left behind by rheumatic fever being the most common cause. Of these, the mitral and aortic valves are the most susceptible to damage. Whatever the cause, damage to the valves can be either stenosis or incomplete closure. Stenosis of the valve makes it difficult for blood to pass through; whereas, insufficient closure causes blood to flow backwards. Valve disease directly affects the pumping function of the heart. The heart has to do more work to meet the blood supply needs of the muscle. Over time, the overloading of the heart will cause hypertrophy of the heart muscle and lack of oxygen, which will eventually lead to heart failure, thus causing symptoms such as tightness in the chest, shortness of breath, dizziness, fainting, fatigue, and swelling of the legs and feet. Treatment of Heart Valve Disease With careful treatment by doctors, there are many people with heart valve disease who can live a normal life on medication. However, when medications do not work or the condition has progressed to a dangerous level, your doctor recommends that you have the damaged valve surgically repaired or replaced. In some cases it is possible to repair your valve by having a valvuloplasty. Some valves can be repaired, but severely damaged valves need to be replaced with prosthetic heart valves. There are two general types of prosthetic heart valves Biologic valves and mechanical valves. Biological valves are made from chemically treated biological tissue, commonly taken from porcine aortic valves or bovine pericardium. The advantage of biologic valves is that they require only short-term anticoagulation after surgery, but they have a limited lifespan and are used only in patients in whom anticoagulation is contraindicated and in elderly patients. Mechanical valves are manufactured from pyrolyzed carbon, metals, and other synthetic materials and are biocompatible, have excellent wear resistance, and have a long service life. Currently, there are two types of single-leaflet and double-leaflet valves, and double-leaflet valves have the advantages of large open area, near-physiologic blood flow, low noise, and low mechanical failure. Mechanical valves are the most widely used prosthetic valves, with the disadvantage that they require lifelong anticoagulation after surgery. Your doctor will take into account factors such as your age, lifestyle and heart condition to determine which type of valve is right for you.