PostsThe heart itself is a muscle with the responsibility of pumping blood throughout the body via an arrangement of interconnecting arteries, veins and heart valves referred to as the cardiovascular system. But, in order to know well about mitral valve displacement, one ought to know how the heart works. There are four chambers in the heart the right atrium, right ventricle, left atrium and left ventricle. Dividing the right chambers is the tricuspid valve whereas the mitral valve divides the left chambers.Oxygen poor blood flows from the body into the right atrium. The tricuspid valve opens in response to the heart beating and allows the blood from the right atrium to empty into the right ventricle. Then this blood is sent to the lungs for oxygenation. The oxygenated blood flows into the left atrium and then passes through the mitral valve into the left ventricle.
The left ventricle is the sturdiest chamber in the heart as it has to forcefully push the blood volume through the body. And in return, places increase pressure on the gate between the left atrium and left ventricle, the mitral valve. This valve looks somewhat similar to an open parachute when closed. mitral valve prolapse occurs when this parachute like closing begins to bulge into the left atrium. While this in itself is not dangerous, it can and most often does lead to mitral valve regurgitation. This condition is when blood that is to be pumped from the left ventricle out into the body is forced backwards through a partially open mitral valve into the left atrium.
See also: heart valve replacement
If this condition that initially started as mitral valve prolapse and turned into mitral valve regurgitation becomes severe a multitude of problems can occur. If the regurgitation is great enough, there will be an increased amount of blood in the left atrium that can extend into the lungs.Also, the left ventricle is compelled to perform harder resulting into an enhanced size which can consequently result in heart failure.As with most medical events, prevention or at least early detection is the key.
The cause of this dysfunction is due to physical changes in the valve itself like thickening or a distorted shape. However, the cause of the changes is unclear and may be genetically related.. While diagnosis is important, the difficult part is that many people do not experience symptoms related to mitral valve prolapse. Many times, it will be found during a routine physical exam in a doctor’s office. He or she will note a ‘murmur’ when listening to your heart that may alert him or her to a problem. In case it is so, an echocardiogram would be prescribed to ascertain the suspicions. With the confirmation of a mitral valve prolapse, treatment may only be scheduled follow-ups to check the progress or lack of in the prolapse.
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