Heart Valve Disease | St. Peter's Health

When a heart valve is damaged, it does not work properly. A damaged valve may narrow and limit blood flow (known as “stenosis”). Or, a damaged valve may not close properly and allow blood to flow in the wrong direction (known as "insufficiency" or “regurgitation”).

Heart valves become damaged for many reasons, including birth defects, infection, other diseases or as part of the aging process.

St. Peter’s Approach to Heart Valve Disease Treatment

Our cardiology program’s echocardiogram (heart ultrasound) team has extensive experience diagnosing heart valve disease. Because of their experience, heart valve issues are often identified quickly—and patients can begin receiving treatment through our cardiology care team.

Your heart valve treatment will depend on:

Which valve is damaged (aortic, mitral, tricuspid or pulmonary)
Type of damage (e.g., stenosis, regurgitation, prolapse, etc.)
How severe your symptoms are

For mild to moderate valve issues, we typically follow up with you every two years to check how your valve issues are progressing.

For patients whose symptoms are severe, we may recommend surgery. We typically refer you to the International Heart Institute in Missoula for heart valve surgery. We can perform your after surgery follow-up care at St. Peter’s.