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In February 2019, Julia was recovering from a viral infection and feeling run down and tired. After her GP listened to her heart with a stethoscope, they discovered she had a significant murmur and a subsequent echo found she had severe aortic stenosis with a bicuspid valve. This is her valve disease story.

This year, as part of International Women's Day 2022, we asked our patient advocate, Livvy Gosney, for her thoughts on the unique challenges women face while undergoing heart valve disease treatment. Here is what she said:

In December 2020, the Heart Valve Voice team put together our strategy for 2021 and discussed ways to help raise awareness of valve disease. In our discussions, we spoke about how people had come together to support one another during the pandemic, help people they didn’t know, and make sacrifices that would save the lives of people they probably would never meet. The way our communities came together was the inspiration behind our 100,000 Conversations campaign. 

Today marks the 15th anniversary of the UK’s first-ever Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) procedure performed at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust by Professor Jan Kovac. What was then viewed as a revolutionary method to treat heart valve disease is now a routine procedure, which is seen to be one of the most significant advances in cardiac disease therapy over the last 30 years.

2022 is upon us, and I wanted to take the opportunity to reflect on Heart Valve Voice’s achievements in 2021 and look forward to 2022. 2022 presents valve disease patients and the nation with a complex challenge, but we at Heart Valve Voice have put together an ambitious strategy to ensure we continue to support patients and improve the detection and diagnosis of the condition.

Today Heart Valve Voice launch our State of the Nation: Heart Valve Disease in Scotland Report, which looks at the detection, diagnosis and treatment of heart valve disease in Scotland.