What are the Dangers of Severe Aortic Stenosis?
Severe aortic stenosis is life-threatening because it prevents blood from flowing easily throughout your body. This means your body does not get the proper amount of oxygen it needs. Your heart may need to work harder to pump blood throughout your body, and often, it can’t do so effectively. When that happens, some people may notice uncomfortable symptoms like shortness of breath and fatigue as the heart becomes weaker.
Here are some of the top reasons severe aortic stenosis can be a serious risk to your health:
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Without treatment, survival rates in patients with severe aortic stenosis are as low as 50% at two years.1
Get help early for severe aortic stenosis
If you have been told you have severe aortic stenosis and have symptoms, it is important to remember that medication cannot stop or cure the disease, it can only treat the symptoms. Valve replacement is the only effective treatment option.1
That may be hard to hear if you’ve recently been diagnosed and you are going through a range of emotions. You may feel nervous or in disbelief. You may feel hesitant. Or you may want to wait to see how things go. But if you have been told you have severe aortic stenosis or start to experience symptoms, it is important to talk to your doctor about your treatment options as soon as possible.
47% of patients with severe aortic stenosis do not receive valve replacement.3
Explore all of the treatment options for your severe aortic stenosis.
The European Society of Cardiology advises that a patient receive treatment as soon as he or she is diagnosed with severe aortic stenosis and starts to experience symptoms.2
Ross J Jr, Braunwald E. Aortic stenosis. Circulation 1968;38:61–7
Badran, AA, Vohra, HA, Livesey, SA. Unoperated severe aortic stenosis: decision making in an adult UK-based population. Ann R Coll Surg Engl 2012; 94: 416–421