Tag Archives: heart valve disease

Dr Garbi (President, British Heart Valve Society, and Consultant Cardiologist) Capacity increase is imminently needed to meet the current demand. An immediate increase in workforce to increase capacity is not realistic, because of the national shortage of cardiac physiologists and the time needed to appropriately train them in echocardiography. Thus, the BHVS proposed an increase in capacity by reducing the time used for echocardiography when a comprehensive study is not needed. The complete description of the proposal is available on the BHVS website (https://bhvs.org/bhvs-management-of-echocardiography-requests/). The BHVS proposes the use

Several factors contribute to this treatment delay, including low patient awareness of the symptoms of valve disease, poor detection rates within primary care, limited access to diagnostic echocardiography, delayed referral to Heart Valve Clinics or Heart Centres, and prolonged waiting lists for surgical or transcatheter intervention.4–7 The prevalence of AS increases with age and typical symptoms, including breathlessness and dizziness, may be misinterpreted by primary care physicians as general signs of ageing rather than red flags for severe AS.6,8 In Europe, many patients are unable to access regular stethoscope checks to identify seve

Introduction The incidence of Cutibacterium acnes as the causative organism for infective endocarditis (IE) is reported as 0.3%.1 C. acnes IE is associated with both native and prosthetic valves, but is much more commonly found on prosthetic valves. Studies show that middle-aged men are mostly affected, with serious infections increasingly reported in association with bioprosthetic material.1 C. acnes is part of the commensal flora of the skin, colonising pilous follicles and sebaceous glands, and may also be found in the mucosa of the mouth, nose, urogenital tract and large intestine, this difference might account for the gender-specific b

This authoritative guide to heart valve disease couldn’t have come at a better time. COVID-19’s catastrophic impact on the NHS leaves over four million people waiting to start hospital treatment. And according to some experts, heart valve disease is an epidemic just waiting to wreak similar havoc. There is no vaccine or pill for heart valve disease and it’s not due to lifestyle. Misdiagnosed, ignored, or simply not heard of, it can be as fatal as some cancers. And because it affects mostly the over 60s – an ever-increasing, longer-living population – it could overwhelm the NHS. The good news is that, diagnosed early, it’s usually

Together with other Society presidents, the BHVS president, Dr Benoy Shah, has supported statements for patients published in Heart Valve Voice. See https://heartvalvevoice.com/news/news/statement-heart-valve-voice-and-professional-societies-phase and https://heartvalvevoice.com/news/news/covid-19-and-heart-valve-disease Other articles from COVID-19 Bulletin 2: COVID-19 and immunology vaccine development expert report on COVID-19 and immunology research COVID-19 and primary care a review of current telemedicine platforms COVID-19 and cardiorenal disease COVID-19 and diabetes Diabetes UK position statement COVID-19 diagnostic glucose/lact