Overview

What is mitral valve disease?

You have an atrium and a ventricle on each side of the heart. There is the mitral valve, part of your heart, which connects these two chambers. Picture this valve as a door that permits blood flow only from the atrium into the ventricle. When this door doesn't operate correctly, it creates mitral valve dysfunction.

You can imagine that two main problems may occur:

• Mitral regurgitation: A loose valve allows the blood to flow backward due to this disease.
• Mitral stenosis: The condition causes narrowing of the valve opening, restricting the flow of blood.

Problems with the heart's pumping capability can be caused by any of the diseases.

What are the Symptoms of Mitral Valve Disease?

General medical symptoms do not exist in the early stages of the disease.  The disease, however, could worsen, and symptoms may appear.  These can be:

• Wear and tear, especially with exerting activity;
• Palpitations or the feeling that your heart is pacing
• Cough, especially at night
• Swelling of the abdomen, ankle, or leg
• Lightheadedness or fainting

What Causes Mitral Valve Disease?

Many reasons can cause mitral valve disease:

• Degenerative changes: With time, the valve can become degenerate.
• Infection: A Disease, such as joint inflammation of rheumatic disease, can affect the valve.
• Connective tissue disorders: Damage to the body's connective tissues can impair the structure of the valve.
• Angina pectoris: Damage to the coronary blood vessels of the heart can interfere with the functioning of the valve.
• Congenital heart defect: By chance, a child's mitral valve can develop abnormally.

What tests will be expected in assessing mitral valve disease?

To assess mitral valve disease, your family doctor will first do a physical examination and take a detailed medical history. He may even listen to your heart with a stethoscope for any abnormal sounds.

Other tests may include:

• Echocardiogram: This includes sound waves to transmit images of your heart.
• Your electrical activity of the heart is recorded on an electrocardiogram (ECG).
• A chest X-ray helps determine the heart's size and shape.
• Cardiac catheterization: A thin tube is inserted through a blood artery for inspection of the heart.

What is the Treatment of Mitral Valve Disease?

The treatment of mitral valve disease depends upon the severity of the condition and its underlying cause.

Medication-

Your doctor may start treating you with drugs if you require treatment. No medication can fix the anatomical issues with your mitral valve. A few drugs can halt the progression of, or even arrest, your symptoms. Such drugs can be categorized into:

• Anticoagulants that have a narrowing effect on blood.
• Antiarrhythmics, drugs for irregular heartbeats
• Beta blockers can cause the patient's heart rate to slow down.
• Diuretics reduce fluid congestion in the lungs.

Valvuloplasty-

Your doctor sometimes requires performing certain surgical procedures. For example, in patients suffering from mitral valve stenosis, the doctor can use a procedure that is referred to as balloon valvuloplasty, wherein a balloon is deployed to open the valve.

Surgery-

It can involve major surgery if your condition is very severe. This means your present mitral valve will be corrected surgically to make it work correctly again. Your body's natural mitral valve can't be repaired in some instances, which makes having a replacement placed necessary. The material used for a mechanical replacement, and a biological one, includes the latter coming from a human, pig, or cow cadaver.

If your mitral valve is dysfunctional, it cannot pump your blood out of the heart. You may feel tired or short of breath, or you may not feel anything at all. In case of finding your condition, your doctor will carry out tests for proper diagnosis. You might be treated with several surgical procedures and multiple drugs, and other medical procedures.

What are the types of mitral valve disease?

Mitral valve infection is a group of disorders that affect the mitral valve's functionality. The most frequent types are:

1. Mitral regurgitation:

Mitral regurgitation is a condition where blood can leak backward into the left atrium instead of easily into the left ventricle when the mitral valve does not close completely. Over time, this increased workload can wear out the heart.

2. Mitral stenosis:

In this disorder, the opening of the mitral valve is narrowed. The blood passage from the donated chamber to the ventricle is narrowed. The heart has to pump blood harder through the narrow opening.

3. Mitral valve prolapse:

In this disarray, when a heartbeat occurs, the mitral valve fold protrudes into the left chamber. Most of the time, it does not cause any complications, but sometimes it leads to mitral regurgitation.

Living With

What self-care should I do?

Your doctor can direct you on the control of your illness. Generally, you should:

• Adhere to all prescription medicines that your doctor has prescribed for you.
• Maintain good oral hygiene of your teeth and gums.
• Adhere to your doctor's prescription as to how much and how strenuous you should exercise.
• Avoid tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs.
• Keep calm.
• Enough time should be allowed for rest.
• You may feel that you need to do everything simultaneously. Discuss with your healthcare provider options that can help you make gradual and small changes in your lifestyle.

Why Tender Palm Super-Speciality Hospital for Mitral Valve Disease?

Tender Palm Hospital has the most experienced team of Cardiologists, Cardiac Surgeons, and diagnostics with the latest and International standard infection control measures in Lucknow, India. The Cardiac Science Centre team has decades of experience in successfully treating Mitral Valve Disease.

To seek an expert consultation for Mitral Valve Disease in Lucknow, India

Call us at +91-9076972161
Email at care@tenderpalm.com

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