It's Aortic Valve Disease Awareness Week

4 hours ago

1 min read

A typical native aortic valve has three leaflets, called a tricuspid aortic valve. But some people are born with a congenital heart difference affecting the aortic valve.

🫀❤️ LET’S TALK ABOUT THE AORTIC VALVE!

For #AorticValveDiseaseAwarenessDay, during #AorticDiseaseAwarenessMonth and #AorticDissectionAwarenessMonth, let’s shine a light on the valve that serves as the gateway between your heart and your aorta!

A typical native aortic valve has three leaflets, called a tricuspid aortic valve. But some people are born with a congenital heart difference affecting the aortic valve.

❤️ Bicuspid Aortic Valve (BAV) — the most common congenital heart defect—has two functional leaflets instead of three. BAV can be associated with aortic stenosis, aortic regurgitation and enlargement of the aorta, which is why lifelong monitoring of both the valve AND the aorta can be important.

Less commonly, someone may be born with a unicuspid aortic valve or quadricuspid aortic valve, meaning the valve has one or four leaflets rather than the typical three.

Aortic valve disease can also develop when the valve becomes:

🔴 Stenotic — it doesn’t open fully, restricting blood flow.

🔴 Regurgitant/insufficient — it doesn’t close properly, allowing blood to leak backward.

And sometimes the valve and the aorta are connected pieces of the same story.

That’s why knowing what kind of aortic valve you have, understanding the health of your aorta, and knowing your family history can matter.

❤️ Know Your Valve.

🫀 Know Your Aorta.

👨‍👩‍👧 Know Your Family.

Think Aorta. Think Family.

#AorticValveDiseaseAwarenessDay #AorticDiseaseAwarenessMonth #AorticDissectionAwarenessMonth #AorticHope #BicuspidAorticValve #BAV #AorticValveDisease #AorticStenosis #AorticRegurgitation #CHD #ThinkAortaThinkFamily #ASAP