Your heart is a muscular bag with four chambers which squeezes to pump blood around our bodies. The upper two heart chambers are the right and left atria; the lower two chambers are the right and left ventricles. To ensure that blood moves in the one direction, there are a number of valves between the heart chambers which prevent blood from flowing back from where it has just come.

If you travel with a blood cell you encounter the valves in this order.

• Tricuspid valve which is located between the right atrium and right ventricle.
• Pulmonary valve which lies between the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery.
• Mitral valve which is between the left atrium and left ventricle.
• Aortic valve which is between the left ventricle and the aorta.

The valve consists of a set of flaps (also called leaflets or cusps). These flaps open and close fully so that blood can exit a chamber of the heart and not return. However, in some people the heart valves may be damaged. The damage may lead to the valve being narrowed called "stenosis" or to the valve becoming leaky so that blood flows back across the valve which is called "regurgitation". Some individuals are born with abnormal valves. Heart valves may be damaged by various factors such as

• Infections
• Rheumatic fever
• Trauma
• Ageing

What is the treatment for valve abnormalities ?
Many people with valve disorders do not require any specific treatment . This is not to say that no treatment will ever be required but that your doctor will be making clinical judgements as to what is the best time if any to intervene to fix a valve.People with congenital heart valve defects may need medical treatment with drugs. Some valve defects may be repaired with surgery.

Previously patients with abnormal valves were recommended to take antibiotics before dental work or minor invasive procedures. New guidelines suggest that this was inappropriate so now antibiotics are only recommended for those patients with prosthetic metal valves, prior infective endocarditis, unrepaired cyanotic congenital heart defects and patients with cardiac transplants. Patient groups that may have received routine antibiotic prophylaxis in the past but no longer require it would be those with mitral and aortic valve disease including mitral valve prolapse, rheumatic heart disease, atrial or septal defects or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. 

However a physician familiar with the patient's condition can best determine whether a specific person needs antibiotics and their opinion should be sought if there is any concern.