Guide To The Risk Factors And Causes Of Aortic Stenosis

Rheumatic Fever

An individual may develop aortic valve stenosis from a previous infection referred to as rheumatic fever. This is a disease of inflammation that forms following an infection of scarlet fever or strep throat that was untreated or inadequately treated. Streptococcus bacteria is what causes scarlet fever and strep throat. Rheumatic fever happens when the bacteria that cause these infections trick a patient's immune system into targeting and attacking its own tissues. The central nervous system, heart tissues, and joint tissues are the most common tissues in the body rheumatic fever affects. Aortic valve problems that arise from previous rheumatic fever are known to manifest between ten and twenty years following the initial infection. When the individual's immune system attacks the tissues of the aortic valve because of rheumatic fever, the tissues of the valve become inflamed and damaged. The damage and inflamed tissues are repaired by the body, but using scar tissue instead of the same kind of tissue originally in the valve. Scar tissue is more dense and fibrous than normal tissue, which causes the valve to become too stiff, or the condition known as aortic stenosis.

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