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What Is Aortic Stenosis?

Aortic stenosis is when the aortic valve (the valve between the left ventricle and the aorta) is too small, narrow, or stiff.

Symptoms of aortic stenosis depend on how small the narrowing of the valve is. Many people have no symptoms at all, and others have only mild symptoms. Mild cases may not need any treatment. But kids with more severe aortic stenosis will need surgery to fix the aortic valve so that blood flows properly through the body.

What Happens in Aortic Stenosis?

The aortic valve and pulmonary valves control the flow of blood as it leaves the heart and keep it flowing forward. They open to let blood move ahead, then quickly close to keep it from flowing backward.

Two diagrams show the position of the heart in the body and a close-up, cross section of a healthy heart. Blood flows from the left atrium into the left ventricle and through a valve into the aorta.