Aortic Valve Stenosis

Aortic stenosis is usually caused by one of these three reasons:
1) Conditions present from birth
2) "Wear and tear" from aging
3) Rheumatic fever which is rare in the United States today.
When a valve is tight or doesn't open normally, it can increase the pressure the heart (left ventricle) has to exert to push the blood through the narrowed opening and cause the muscles to thicken in the walls of the ventricle. The increased pressure of the blood going through the valve may result in further wear and tear on the valve.