Genetics of an aortic valve problem

The aorta is the main artery from the heart. The lower left side of the heart pumps blood with oxygen to the body through the aorta. A valve controls the flow of blood from this area of your heart to the aorta. Valves work like dams. Dams hold water upstream when closed. When we open them, water flows downstream. Dams do not allow water to go back upstream. Heart valves work the same way. The aortic valve lets blood flow from the heart to the aorta. Once the blood is through the valve, the valve closes. When the valve closed, blood starts filling in the heart again. But, sometimes, heart valves do not open or close right. If the aortic valve narrows, it might not open all the way. This is aortic stenosis, or AS. Stenosis means narrowing of a passage in the body. If you have AS, your heart has to work harder to pump blood to the rest of the body. Over time, this can make the heart weak. It might also mean it cannot pump as much blood. This can cause serious problems. Sometimes, we can ease symptoms with medication. But, most of the time, we have to do open heart surgery to repair or replace the valve. Right now, we have no treatments that can slow down or stop AS. About 1 in 50 people over 65 get AS. The chances of getting AS go up as we continue to age. Scientists think there is a link between AS and changes in certain genes. Researchers at Vanderbilt will use BioVU to check for links between gene changes and AS. The will compare the genes of people with AS to similar people without AS. They will share their results with other groups working on AS. The results could help us learn how gene changes affect AS. It might help us learn who could be at risk for AS. It could also help us find new ways to treat AS, or maybe even prevent it.