Structural heart disease

Structural heart disease is a group of conditions affecting the heart’s tissue and valves. These structures are delicate yet strong enough to continuously pump blood. With each beat, valves snap open and shut moving blood through the heart and out to the body. When there is valve disease or a structural issue, it can affect organ functioning.

Having structural heart disease raises your risk of serious complications, including stroke and heart attack. Receiving care from experts, such as the ones at Advocate Heart Institute, gives you the best chances for staying healthy.

In the Valvular Heart Disease Program, we use a team approach to diagnose and treat valvular disease and structural heart issues. Cardiologists and heart surgeons use the latest techniques to improve heart functioning so that you can feel your best. Our commitment to pioneering heart valve disease care has earned our program a national reputation. 

Types of structural heart disease

There are many forms of valvular and structural heart disease. Some run in families. Find out more about inherited heart diseases.

Types of structural heart disease we treat include:

Congenital heart defects

Many forms of valvular disease and structural issues are present at birth (congenital). They include holes in heart tissue and valves that do not develop correctly. Find out more about congenital heart disease. 

Heart valve disease

There are three types of valvular disease. They include: 

• Atresia: The valve is missing an opening, so blood cannot pass through.

• Backflow (valve regurgitation): This condition occurs when valves do not snap shut. Blood spills back to the area it came from instead of out to the body.

• Valvular stenosis: This condition occurs when valve tissue is stiff or sticky preventing it from fully opening.

Other structural heart issues

Other conditions affecting heart structures include: 

• Cardiomyopathies: This group of conditions affects muscle tissue and the heart’s pumping abilities. Learn more about cardiomyopathy and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

• Left ventricular hypertrophy: Muscles on the left side of the heart become abnormally thick from working harder than they should.

• Marfan syndrome: This inherited condition may cause enlarged blood vessels, valve regurgitation and more.

• Myocarditis: The heart’s middle layer (myocardium) becomes swollen due to a viral infection.

Symptoms of structural heart disease

Symptoms of valvular disease and structural heart issues include:

• Chest pain
• Dizziness
• Heart murmur, which produces a whooshing sound when doctors listen to your heart 
• Heart rhythm conditions (arrhythmias) 
• Shortness of breath
• Swelling in your lungs, ankles, feet or abdominal area
• Unusual tiredness

Causes of structural heart disease

Congenital heart disease occurs when abnormal genes get passed down in families. They can also develop over time even if you do not have abnormal genes. Older adults face a higher risk due to natural wear and tear. 

Certain medical conditions can also cause valve disease and structural issues in younger adults. They include:

• Complications of syphilis, a sexually transmitted infection
• Coronary artery disease 
• Heart attack (myocardial infarction)
• Infective endocarditis, which causes swelling in the inner lining of the heart
• Rheumatic fever, which may occur when strep throat treatments are not successful

Diagnosing structural heart disease

Doctors may listen to your heart or perform basic imaging to check for signs of a murmur, heart-swelling or fluid in the lungs. The results help us determine whether additional testing may be necessary. Find out more about heart and vascular testing and diagnosis.

Your care may include:

• Echocardiography: This test creates a two-dimensional picture of heart muscles, valves and other structures using soundwaves.
• Electrocardiogram (EKG): This test records the heart’s electrical activity and may show signs of damage.
• CT scan or MRI: These imaging studies provide 3D images of the heart, valves and blood flow.

Treating structural heart disease

Depending on the type of structural heart disease, you might not need treatment. We may recommend regular monitoring instead. For more severe issues, you may need treatment. 

Heart valve and structural heart disease treatments may include:

Minimally invasive procedures

We treat most valve conditions and a few structural issues using long thin tubes (catheters) with sophisticated instruments at the tip. Interventional cardiology specialists insert catheters through a small incision in your wrist or groin. 

Your care may include:

• Ablation: Doctors use focused beams of warm or cold gas to destroy thickened heart muscle tissue due to cardiomyopathy.
• Balloon valvuloplasty: This procedure is for valvular stenosis. A balloon-like device expands to push tissue out of the way so that the valve can snap open and shut.
• Transcatheter aortic valve repair (TAVR): This option places an artificial valve in the heart’s upper chamber.
• Transcatheter mitral valve repair (TMVR): Experts use a tiny clip to repair leaky valves due to mitral valve regurgitation.

Open-heart surgery

If other treatments aren’t successful or you are not eligible for a minimally invasive procedure, you may need open cardiovascular surgery. With open-heart procedures, surgeons use traditional techniques, including larger incisions, to access and repair structural issues. 

We also use open-heart surgery to implant technologies that help the heart do its job, like ventricular assist devices. This option is for worsening symptoms that cause heart failure.

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