Valvular Insufficiency and Heart Failure

Valve insufficiency or regurgitation is an important cause of heart failure (HF) in children and is most often due to a congenital valve abnormality. Leakage of the tricuspid and pulmonary valves leads to right-sided HF, while regurgitation of the mitral and aortic valves leads to left-sided failure. In all lesions, the affected ventricle suffers from chronic volume overload and ultimately failure of systolic function. In patients with HF due to valve insufficiency, medical therapy is largely ineffective leaving invasive surgical or transcatheter valve interventions as the cornerstone of therapy.