How is aortic stenosis diagnosed?
- A doctor may hear a heart murmur or other abnormal noises when listening with a stethoscope. Murmurs and noises are due to blood passing through abnormal valves, or to abnormal movement of valves. Aortic stenosis causes typical murmurs and noises.
- A chest X-ray may show some calcification around the aortic valve.
- An electrocardiogram (ECG) can show that the left ventricle is thickened.
- An echocardiography can confirm the diagnosis. This is an ultrasound scan of the heart.
- Cardiac catheterization is sometimes done to assess the severity of the stenosis. In this test a thin tube called a catheter is inserted into the main blood vessel in the top of the leg. It is passed up to the heart. A small device on the tip of the catheter can measure the pressure on either side of the aortic valve. The difference in pressure gives an indication of the severity of the narrowing.
By Lucie Tobin
All pages in this article:
Share this article
- Comment (0)
- Send to a friend
- Print: Article | Page
