Leakage in the valve between the heart and the aorta (main artery of the body); also known as aortic regurgitation. Aortic insufficiency occurs when blood leaks back from the aorta into the heart, decreasing blood flow into the body and forcing the heart to pump harder to compensate. Over time, the heart chamber known as the left ventricle, where the aortic valve is located, may enlarge and weaken, causing congestive heart failure.
An imperfect closure of the aortic semilunar valve at the junction of the left ventricle and the aorta, due to distortion of the valve leaflets or dilation of the aortic annulus. This causes blood that has been ejected into the aorta to fall back into the left ventricle. It may produce volume overload of the ventricle, leading to left ventricular dilation and hypertrophy, and congestive heart failure. Stroke volume and ejection fraction (EF) fall.