Diagnosing Valve Disease

Heart valve disease may be suspected in routine physical exams, when a physician listens to the heartbeat with a stethoscope, measures the pulse and blood pressure and takes blood tests.  A characteristic heart murmur (abnormal sounds in the heart due to turbulent blood flow) can often indicate a valve problem. To further define the type of valve disease and extent of the valve damage, physicians may use any of the following diagnostic procedures:

• Chest X-Ray
• Holter Monitoring
• Echocardiogram
• Transesophageal Echocardiogram (TEE)
• Transthoracic Echocardiogram (TTE)
• Cardiac catheterization
• Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)