Mitral valve disease

At Aurora, we specialize in minimally invasive mitral valve repair and replacement. We’re here to help you get the expert care you need to regain healthy valve function, your energy and the life you love.

What is mitral valve disease?

The mitral valve controls blood flow between the left upper and lower chambers of your heart. With mitral valve disease, this valve doesn’t open and close the way it should with each heartbeat.

Mitral valve disease is one of the four kinds of heart valve disease. The other valve diseases are aortic valve disease, tricuspid valve disease and pulmonary valve disease.

Understanding the types of mitral valve disease

There are a few main types of mitral valve disease. These include:

• Mitral valve regurgitation: In this condition, the valve doesn’t close tightly and blood leaks backward into the left atrium, or upper heart chamber, instead of flowing into the left ventricle, or lower heart chamber.
• Mitral valve prolapse: This type happens when a bulge develops in the flaps that close your mitral valve, keeping the valve from closing completely and blood leaks backward. It can lead to atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat, or infective endocarditis, an infection of the inside lining of your heart.
• Mitral valve stenosis: This condition means the valve has thickened, stiffened or has fused flaps and can’t open all the way, preventing blood from flowing properly to the left ventricle and out to the body.

Mitral valve disease symptoms

With mitral valve disease, you may not have any symptoms. In fact, the most common way a doctor detects mitral valve disease is hearing a heart murmur through a stethoscope.

Symptoms you might experience include:

• A fluttering, racing or irregular heartbeat
• Chest pain or discomfort, especially during physical exertion
• Dizziness
• Fainting, also called syncope
• Fatigue, dizziness or anxiety
• Shortness of breath or trouble breathing, especially during exertion or when lying down
• Swelling in your ankles, feet, legs, abdomen or neck veins
• Coughing

Mitral valve disease causes

Mitral valve disease can be inherited, meaning it runs in the family. It also can be congenital and is present from birth. Other times, it can appear after an illness or injury.

Some causes include:

• Infection: Serious or untreated infections like rheumatic fever, which is a complication of untreated strep throat, or endocarditis, which is an inflammation of the heart’s lining, can weaken the mitral valve and cause stenosis or regurgitation.
• Inherited conditions: Mitral valve prolapse tends to run in families and is usually present since birth. It also can develop any time, most often seen in women age 20 to 40. You’re also more likely to have it if you have scoliosis, polycystic kidney disease or a connective tissue disorder like Marfan syndrome.
• Heart attack: After a heart attack, damage to heart tissue can affect how the mitral valve works.

Mitral valve disease diagnosis

To diagnose mitral valve disease, your doctor will first give you a thorough physical exam, listen to your heart with a stethoscope to check for a heart murmur and ask about your symptoms and family history. They may order additional tests for you, too, such as:

• Cardiac catheterization
• Chest X-ray, CT scan or MRI
• Echocardiogram, including transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE)
• Electrocardiogram (EKG)
• Electrophysiology study
• Stress test

Find out more about our heart and vascular testing and diagnosis.

Mitral valve disease treatment

To treat mitral valve disease, we’ll work with you on a plan that’s right for you. It may include diet and lifestyle changes or medication. At some point, we may recommend repairing or replacing the mitral valve using one these procedures:

• Catheter heart valve repair (MitraClip® procedure), where we thread a catheter through a blood vessel to the damaged mitral valve and use small clips to reshape the valve so blood can’t flow backward
• Balloon valvuloplasty, where we thread a catheter with a small balloon on the end through a blood vessel from the groin to your heart and inflate the balloon to stretch the heart valve
• Valve replacement, where our experienced surgeons replace the damaged valve with an artificial one

Care your heart can trust

At Aurora, we have a specialized heart center dedicated to heart valve disease. Here you’ll find a team of highly skilled specialists, the latest treatments – and personalized care for your best heart health.

Look to us for unmatched expertise, the most advanced services and treatments, and the latest in research and clinical trials.