Patient was educated on complication for valvular heart disease as follows:
- Pulmonary hypertension
- Increased backup of blood in the heart chambers and pulmonary blood vessels due to valve disorders can result in grossly elevated blood pressure in pulmonary vessels and result in pulmonary hypertension.
- Increasing pressure in the pulmonary circuit will increase the workload of the heart and can contribute to further compromise of cardiac function.
- Pulmonary edema
- Back up of blood in the chambers and pulmonary capillaries result in increased fluid leaking from the capillaries into the tissue spaces in the lung.
- This results in fluid retention in the chest leading to difficulty in gas exchange in the lungs.
- Palpitations and arrhythmia
- Damaged heart muscle, secondary to poor blood and oxygen supply to the heart muscle, can lead to palpitations and arrhythmias, such as, atrial and ventricular fibrillation.
- Thrombus formation
- Increased accumulation of blood in the heart with the arrhythmia can increase the chances for blood clot formation and lead to deposition of emboli in the vital organs, thus contributing to stroke and chest pain affecting their function.
