Comprehensive Nursing Management for Valvular Disease

Abstract

Valvular heart dysfunction (VHD) affects up to 7% of adults up to age 44 year, whereas up to 13% of individuals older than 75 years are affected. The broad term of valvular heart disease includes dysfunction of one or more of the 4 heart valves, including the pulmonary valve, tricuspid valve, mitral valve, or aortic valve. Specifically the more frequent anomalies, implication, assessment, and treatment that will be described more extensively include aortic regurgitation, aortic stenosis, mitral regurgitation, or tricuspid regurgitation. The most prevalent cause of valvular heart disease stems from calcification and stiffening of the valve leaflets contributing to stenosis.

Keywords: Aortic regurgitation; Aortic stenosis; Mitral regurgitation; Mitral stenosis; Nursing management.