The heart is the workhorse of our body it pumps out 5 liters of blood every minute every hour of every day that we live. When we demand more from it like during exercise or panic it responds and all it asks for in return is nourishment. The source of nourishment for our heart is oxygen rich blood that is supplied to it by the two main coronary arteries namely left and right.

What is Coronary Artery Disease?

Coronary artery disease is the narrowing or blockage of the coronary arteries caused by atherosclerosis known to the common man as “clogging” of the arteries. It is the buildup of cholesterol and fatty deposits on the inner walls of the arteries that restricts blood flow to the heart. This can be in the form of a circumferential block or a plaque on a single wall which is big enough to obstruct the flow of blood. It is these plaques that can be dangerous and cause sudden death.

The mitral valve is found on the left side of the heart. It connects the collecting chamber or the left atrium to the pumping chamber or the left ventricle. This is commonly affected by rheumatic heart disease in the Asian subcontinent and by degenerative disease in the western world.

The mitral valve is made of two leaflets that are well supported in their structure and function by chords and papillary muscles of the heart. The normal area of opening is 3.5 sq.cm when this area is less than 0.8sq.cm then the valve is said to critically stenosed and requires urgent attention. Any malfunction of the mitral valve can cause a back pressure on the blood vessels of the lungs resulting in increased pressures in the lungs and eventually right heart failure. This is one of the reasons early treatment of mitral valve disease has better results and lesser morbidity.

The tricuspid valve is located on the right side of the heart between the right atrium or collecting chamber and the right ventricle or pumping chamber. This side collects the deoxygenated blood and sends it to the lungs to get oxygenated. The right side of the heart is usually a low pressure system.

. Regurgitation or leak; the valve most commonly develops a leak when the annulus or ring holding the leaflets gets dilated due to an increase volume load to the right ventricle. The other cause of leak is infection of the valve which is seen in intravenous drug abusers. Sometimes infected pacemaker leads can also damage the valve.

An aneurysm is a bulging or ballooning in the wall of a blood vessel. It is caused when a portion of the artery wall weakens. Like a balloon, as the aneurysm expands, the artery wall grows progressively thinner, increasing the likelihood that the aneurysm will burst. The most common location an aneurysm can develop is within the aorta, the main artery through which blood flows from the heart to the rest of the body, in the segment of the aorta that runs through the abdomen (called an abdominal aortic aneurysm). The second most common site for an aortic aneurysm can develop is in one of the aortic segments that lies very near the heart (called a thoracic aortic