Tag Archives: specialist valve clinic

Introduction Valve disease, is increasingly common as our population ages.1 The organisation of care for these patients is patchy,2 while judging the suitability, timing and type of intervention has never been harder. Opinion papers, therefore, call for a cardiologist specialising in valve disease at every major hospital.3,4 However, patients with valve disease often remain asymptomatic for a long period and need regular echocardiography, but not necessarily to see a cardiologist. Such patients can be managed in a sonographer-led clinic, while patients with normally functioning mechanical replacement valves who do not require regular echocar