Structural Heart Disease in Primary Care: When to Suspect Valve Disease & When to Refer

Valvular heart disease often presents gradually— often slowly becoming more fatigued, less active, or more short of breath over time— making it easy for symptoms to be attributed to aging or deconditioning. In this episode, Liz Rohr sits down with structural heart nurse practitioner Christy Cantey, FNP, to discuss how primary care clinicians can recognize subtle symptoms of valve disease, know when an echocardiogram is appropriate, and understand what happens after a patient is referred to a structural heart program.

They also discuss modern transcatheter valve procedures—including TAVR and TEER—and how these minimally invasive treatments have changed outcomes for patients with aortic stenosis and other valvular diseases.

Timestamps

00:00 Meet Christy Cantey, NP

02:02 What Is Structural Heart Disease?

03:22 Understanding Modern Valve Procedures

06:05 Symptoms That Should Raise Concern

07:28 Two Questions That Reveal Functional Decline

08:51 Why Patients Often Don't Realize How Sick They Feel

09:47 The Challenge of Detecting Heart Murmurs

11:09 When to Order an Echocardiogram

12:07 Why Early Referral Matters

15:35 Working With Structural Heart Programs

18:15 What TAVR and Valve Procedures Are Really Like

20:56 Primary Care Follow-Up After Valve Intervention

23:19 Long-Term Monitoring and Annual Echocardiograms

26:17 How to Counsel Patients Who Are Hesitant About Treatment

32:32 Clinical Pearls and Resources for Learning More

For a full transcript and conversation chapters, visit the blog http://www.realworldnp.com/blog/valve-disease-primary-care

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