Introduction Diagnosing Common Symptoms Not as Common Symptoms Life Factors Treatment References
Mitral valve prolapse affects 4- 18% of the population. 7.6% of women and 2.5% of men are diagnosed with this disorder. MVP is believed to be hereditary, but more commonly among women.
Mitral Valve Prolapse is a condition where the valve between the left atrium and the left ventricle of the heart does properly function. This condition is common and many people with this condition may never experience any of the symptoms that are common with this disorder. In the cases of people who do experience symptoms the condition usually has become more severe and needs further medical treatment.
In this disorder, the Mitral valve will protrude upward into the left artium and then the valve will close. In some cases, the valve will actually buckle back into the left artium causing blood to back flow in the heart (see figure 1).
Figure 1: Heart with a malfunctioning Mitral Valve
Most cases of Mitral Valve Prolapse are diagnosed in young adulthood. This condition can usually be detected by hearing a clicking sound when using a stethoscope to listen to the heart during a routine doctors exam. This clicking sound, which is the leaflets of the valve closing, is made half way through the heart beat and is followed by a murmur or a whooshing sound, which is associated with the back flow of blood into the left atrium.
To confirm that this is Mitral Valve Prolapse, an echocardiogram is generally performed on the patient. This instrument uses high frequency sound waves to create a picture of the heart and to see if the valve is buckling, which often leds to blood back flowing in the heart (See Figure 2).
Figure 2: Image of the Mitral Valve prolapsing in an echocardiogram
As stated above most people with this condition do not experience and symptoms, but for those that have a more severe case, which is where the valve is actually buckling, some of the common symptoms are:
Figure 3: Percentage of severity of symptoms
Some people with Mitral Valve Prolapse have other symptoms that are not as common as the ones listed above and there are some life factors (See Life Factors) that can increase all of these symptoms
All of the factors listed below can increase the intensity or frequency of all the common and uncommon symptoms listed previously.
Most cases of Mitral Valve Prolapse are not severe and a simple change in diet, exercise or medication can decrease or eliminate most of the symptoms that may occur with Mitral Valve Prolapse. It is also important for people with MVP to learn as much about their disorder and to regularly visit their doctor.
For more severe cases of this condition the heart valve may actually need to be replaced either due to the valve deteriorating due to bacteria in the blood that lingers around the valve due to blood back flow or because the valve is allowing too much blood to back flow into the left atrium. In this case the the valve can be replaced by one of two options. The first option is a biological valve which either a pig or human valve that is put in place of the damaged heart valve. This type of valve rarely required any type of medication to prevent blood clots in contrast to the mechanical valve will need medication to prevent blood from clotting around the valve because the valve is made out of plastic or metal (See Figure 3). Both of these types of valves will have to be replaced every 15- 20 years.
Figure 4: Different types of replacement heart valves (left image: human or pig valve right image: a mechanical valve made out of plastic or metal)
Stacy Bishop, April 24, 2007