Is a leaky heart valve considered to be a form heart disease?
Hello, Yes, it is. Obviously the leak is still within the arteries, - no blood is leaking out of the heart, - any leak is only in the backwards direction of blood-flow. One function of the valves is to stop blood which has just been pumped, from falling backwards again to where it came from. As soon as the pumping action stops, the valve has to close to lock the pumped-blood in its new forward position. If any blood leaks back through the closed valve, that is called regurgitation of blood, - and the closed valve which is leaking is described as incompetent or insufficient, in medical language. Sometimes newborn babies are born with a heart valve (or valves) that leak backwards, having not been properly formed in the womb, - or sometimes the valve (or valves) are damaged in adult life by some disease, - for example, infections like Rheumatic Fever or Syphilis, (both rare nowadays). I hope this is of some help. Best wishes, Belliger retired uk gp
