Valve stenosis means the narrowing of a valve. Pulmonary stenosis is a narrowing of the valve that lets blood flow from the lower-right chamber (the right ventricle) into the lungs. When this valve narrows, the right ventricle has to work harder and it becomes enlarged.

What are the symptoms?

Many children with mild pulmonary stenosis have no symptoms.

Infants with severe pulmonary stenosis may have a bluish coloring to their skin because not enough oxygen-rich blood is reaching the body. This is called cyanosis.

How is it treated?

Children with mild stenosis usually do not need surgery, but they should be watched carefully and see their doctor regularly.

But if a child is cyanotic (bluish), the valve must be widened right away, either through open heart valve surgery or balloon valvuloplasty. In balloon valvuloplasty, a balloon is guided into the heart on the tip of a long, thin tube called a catheter. When the catheter is in place in the valve, the balloon is inflated to force the valve to open wider. Then, the catheter and deflated balloon are removed.

Newer procedures using stents and artificial heart valves may also be used.

After valve surgery or balloon valvuloplasty, the valve sometimes narrows again, so people with pulmonary stenosis should see their doctor regularly.

See also on this site: Congenital Heart Disease

See on other sites:

MedlinePlus
www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001096.htm
Pulmonary Valve Stenosis

American Heart Association
www.americanheart.org
Pulmonary Stenosis (PS)

---

Updated July 2009