﻿ Adult Advisor 2011.4: Aortic Valve Regurgitation Page header
image  Aortic Valve Regurgitation  What is aortic valve
regurgitation?  Aortic valve regurgitation is leaking of a valve
in the heart called the aortic valve.  The aortic valve is 1 of
4 valves in the heart. It is located at the opening from the
left side of the heart (left ventricle) into the aorta. The
aorta is the big blood vessel that carries blood to all the
tissues of the body. The job of the aortic valve is to keep
blood moving from the heart into the aorta and to the rest of
the body. When the heart beats and pushes blood into the aorta,
the valve opens. At the end of the beat, the valve closes.
Normally, in between heartbeats, the valve closes tightly, so
that no blood goes back into the heart. When you have valve
regurgitation, the valve does not close completely between
heartbeats. This lets blood from the aorta move back into the
heart. This means the heart must work harder to pump more blood
than normal with each beat. Over time, thi