Alarming rise in valvular heart disease among older adults

The Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF) released alarming findings that were presented at their annual scientific symposium; there is a high percentage of older adults in the U.S. with valvular heart disease (VHD), and most don’t know they have it.

The findings come from the PREVUE-VALVE study and show that disease incidence “increases sharply with advanced age.” The 3,000 participants were aged 65-85 and each were screened for VHD. 8.2% of participants were diagnosed with moderate or greater VHD. When also accounting for participants diagnosed with mild to moderate VHD, “the overall prevalence increased to 18.4%.” The researchers found the most common type of VHD was tricuspid regurgitation, according to CRF.

Additionally, “a further analysis using census data from the United States suggested that at least 4.7 million people between the ages of 65-85 are living with moderate or greater VHD, and at least 10.6 million have greater than mild VHD.” Incidence is forecasted to grow by 1.8 million by 2060.

CRF’s announcement calls for improved access to screening and treatment for VHD for all populations.