Valvular Heart Disease

Disease of the heart valves is increasingly common and frequently requires treatment, usually a combination of drug therapy and surgery to repair or replace the valve. The majority of valvular heart disease occurs in older people, and is due to degenerative disease of the valve tissue. Understanding how to diagnose, investigate and manage patients with valvular heart disease is a core skill for a wide range of doctors, including cardiologists, cardiac surgeons, general physicians, general surgeons and anaesthetists. Valvular heart disease can also occur in younger patients and can be particularly challenging to diagnose and treat in pregnant women. New advances in cardiology mean a range of valvular heart disease can be treated with percutaneous procedures avoiding the need for full cardiac surgery.

This unique text covers all aspects of valvular heart disease, including normal valve anatomy and physiology, pathophysiology, modes of investigation, assessment and treatment of specific valve lesions, valve surgery (both medical and surgical aspects), treatment in pregnancy or during non-cardiac surgery, and the devastating complication of infective endocarditis, in an easy-to-read, accessible format. It contains over 150 high quality pictures and illustrations, providing contemporary diagnostic imaging (including conventional radiography, echocardiography and magnetic resonance imaging) to demonstrate the importance of imaging in diagnosis and treatment. Individual valve lesions are reviewed in turn with specific indications for intervention in line with current European guidelines. The handbook complements the curriculum for specialist training in the UK, and is relevant to candidtaes in preparation for accreditation with the British Society of Echocardiography.

Dr Prendergast underwent specialist cardiology training in Cardiff, Paris, Edinburgh and Manchester and is now Consultant Cardiologist at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford where he is Cardiac Catheter Laboratory Director and leader of the clinical valve service. His research interests include valvular heart disease (including the application of percutaneous technology), infective endocarditis and coronary intervention and he is the Principal Investigator in the OxVALVE project. He is Honorary Secretary of the British Cardiovascular Intervention Society, Chairman-Elect of the Working Group on Valvular Heart Disease of the European Society of Cardiology, Chairman of the UK Clinical Study Group on Valvular Heart Disease and has contributed to current European Guidelines on the Management of Valvular Heart Disease and Infective Endocarditis.

Dr Saul Myerson graduated from Bristol University before completing further specialist training in London and Oxford, undertaking research leading to an MD degree from University College London in 2002. His specialist interests include valvular heart disease, cardiomyopathies and advanced cardiac imaging, particularly cardiovascular magnetic resonance, and his research programme is also in these areas. He supervises cardiology teaching at the University of Oxford Medical School, and has a strong interest in teaching and assessment. He has published over 50 papers and book chapters in clinical cardiology, edited three books and is a reviewer for several international journals. Dr Myerson was President of the British Junior Cardiologists Association from 2005-7 and was awarded Fellowship of the European Society of Cardiology (FESC) in 2007.

Dr James Newton is a specialist registrar in cardiology at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. He graduated from Leicester University and then completed research leading to an MD degree, before further specialist training in Oxford with focus on diagnostic and interventional echocardiography. Dr Newton's specialist interests include assessment and management of valvular heart disease, imaging for valvular interventions with both transoesophogeal and intracardiac echocardiography, and management of infective endocarditis. He is a member of the European Society of Cardiology working group on valvular heart disease.


Dr Nikant Sabharwal qualified in 1996 and completed medical SHO rotation and MRCP in 1999. He conducted research in nuclear cardiology at Northwick Park Hospital (Harrow, Middlesex) towards his MD thesis. He completed Specialist Registrar training programme in Cardiology in Oxford Deanery in 2009 and was appointed Consultant Cardiologist to John Radcliffe and Horton Hospitals in 2009. His sub speciality interest is in cardiovascular imaging.