Aortic Valve

I was DX with Grade II blowing systolic murmur at 22.  Took Phen-fen (in 1996) and experienced shortness of breath climbing stairs, I immediately stopped taking it. In 1997, at age 45, I was Dx with Id. DCM, same murmur, some mild LVSD, and thickening of my aortic and mitral valves.  My most recent echo shows my left atrium is enlarged, but the rest of my heart has returned to normal, however, ALL of my valves are "leaking" mildly, with the exception of my aortic valve, which is now "mild to moderate". My question, once a leaky valve starts to go from mild to moderate, does it tend to continue? Is it a "snowball effect"?  Thank you so much.

[Cleveland Clinic, MD]

Dear Bonnie,
A "leaky valve" will often, but not always, progress over time. The progression is usually slow but can occasionally be rapid.  For this reason we usually follow individuals like yourself with yearly echocardiograms.  If we were to see a rapid progression or a progression to severe leakage in a patient we would usually recommend surgery at that time.