Top Health Tips on Living with Mitral Valve Prolapse

There are valves in each of the four chambers of the heart. These valves make sure that blood flows in one direction only. The blood flows from the atria into the ventricles through the mitral and the tricuspid valves. The pulmonic and the aortic valves allow the blood to flow out of the ventricles. Valve problems occur when the normal functioning of the valve is impaired.

Impaired valve function leads to blood flow obstruction, which in turn can lead to stenosis of the valve. This puts a lot of strain on the heart muscles, forcing it to work harder. It may also lead to the blood flowing backwards through the valve and back into the heart.

The various causes of valvular heart disease are:

Valvular heart disease: If you are suffering from rheumatic fever, it may lead to valvular heart disease
Congenital heart disease: Congenital heart disease refers to various defects in the heart which are present since birth. In some cases, these defects may include being born with abnormal valves.
Heart attack: If you have suffered a heart attack, your heart muscles may be damaged or impaired.
Cardiomyopathy: This is a genetic disorder that is characterized by an inability of the heart to pump blood efficiently.
Age: Ageing may cause certain changes in the body that lead to valvular heart disease.
Valvular heart disease is treated by various homeopathic remedies that do not have any side effect. It takes a holistic approach to heal the body as it gets to the root of the disease. The various homeopathic remedies for valvular heart disease are:

Cactus grandiflorus: This remedy is used in a number of heart complications such as stenosis of the valve. It helps in getting rid of the inflammation in the heart muscles so that the heart can pump blood efficiently.
Digitalis: Digitalis is another remedy that helps in healing the muscles of the heart by regulating the pulse.
Kalmia latifolia: Kalmia latifolia is a homeopathic remedy that is used in treating various complications of the heart. It also helps in symptoms of rheumatic fever that may lead to valvular heart disease.

The heart is a 4-chambered organ and acts like a pump by collecting and sending out blood from and to all parts of the body. It has blood vessels coming into it and branching out of it for this. The beauty of it though is that the blood flow is controlled to happen in one direction with a set of small valves, which are muscular tissues that close and open to allow for blood flow.

There are 4 sets of valves:

Mitral which regulate blood flow between the two ventricles
Tricuspid which controls blood flow between the two arteries
Aortic which controls blood flow from the left ventricle to the aorta
Pulmonary which ensures proper blood flow from the right ventricle to the pulmonary veins.
Problem with any of these can cause improper blood flow and lead to complications. The two common issues with these valves are stenosis and prolapse. In the first instance, the valves may not open and close fully. In the second instance, closure is affected so blood can flow back into the area of origin. While some develop later in life, others are congenital.
The most effective and definitive treatment for these would be valve replacement. Earlier, this would require open heart surgery. However, with advances in medicine, these can now be done as endoscopic procedures that are minimally invasive.

Minimally invasive techniques include:

The aortic valve which is critical and can require replacement is now replaced using a process called transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). A catheter or a tube is inserted via an incision in the neck or groin and then a new valve is carried through the catheter and placed in the position of the aorta.
Video-assisted surgeries are also getting popular, where the doctor sees the entire process on a monitor and goes about replacing the valve.
With robots gaining popularity, robot-assisted surgery is also used for valve replacements. This is believed to be a lot more precise with fewer chances of human errors.
One point to note though is that not everybody is a candidate for minimally invasive valve surgery. It is recommended to seek a second opinion before going for a valve replacement surgery. The key deciding factor would be which procedure would ensure definitive treatment of the valvular problem in the patient.
Advantages:

No major scarring or wound on the chest
Reduced chances of infection
Shorter hospital stay
Shorter postop recovery
Reduced blood loss
Deciding factors:

Overall health status
Age
Type of problem
The severity of the problem
Comorbid factors (lifestyle and other diseases)

There are valves in the each of the four chambers of the heart. These valves make sure that blood flows in one direction only. The blood flows from the atria into the ventricles through the mitral and the tricuspid valves. The pulmonic and the aortic valves allow the blood to flow out of the ventricles. Valve problems occur when the normal functioning of the valve is impaired.

Impaired valve function leads to blood flow obstruction, which in turn can lead to stenosis of the valve. This puts lot of strain on the heart muscles, forcing it to work harder. It may also lead to the blood flowing backwards through the valve and back into the heart.

The various causes of valvular heart disease are:

Valvular heart disease: If you are suffering from rheumatic fever, it may lead to valvular heart disease
Congenital heart disease: Congenital heart disease refers to various defects in the heart which are present since birth. In some cases, these defects may include being born with abnormal valves.
Heart attack: If you have suffered a heart attack, your heart muscles may be damaged or impaired.
Cardiomyopathy: This is a genetic disorder that is characterized by an inability of the heart to pump blood efficiently.
Age: Ageing may cause certain changes in the body that lead to valvular heart disease.
Valvular heart disease is treated by various homeopathic remedies that do not have any side effect. It takes a holistic approach to healing the body as it gets to the root of the disease. The various homeopathic remedies for valvular heart disease are:

Cactus grandiflorus: This remedy is used in a number of heart complications such as stenosis of the valve. It helps in getting rid of the inflammation in the heart muscles, so that the heart can pump blood efficiently.
Digitalis: Digitalis is another remedy that helps in healing the muscles of the heart by regulating the pulse.
Kalmia latifolia: Kalmia latifolia is a homeopathic remedy that is used in treating various complications of the heart. It also helps in symptoms of rheumatic fever that may lead to valvular heart disease.

There are valves in the each of the four chambers of the heart. These valves make sure that blood flows in one direction only. The blood flows from the atria into the ventricles through the mitral and the tricuspid valves. The pulmonic and the aortic valves allow the blood to flow out of the ventricles. Valve problems occur when the normal functioning of the valve is impaired.

Impaired valve function leads to blood flow obstruction, which in turn can lead to stenosis of the valve. This puts lot of strain on the heart muscles, forcing it to work harder. It may also lead to the blood flowing backwards through the valve and back into the heart.

The various causes of valvular heart disease are:

Valvular heart disease: If you are suffering from rheumatic fever, it may lead to valvular heart disease
Congenital heart disease: Congenital heart disease refers to various defects in the heart which are present since birth. In some cases, these defects may include being born with abnormal valves.
Heart attack: If you have suffered a heart attack, your heart muscles may be damaged or impaired.
Cardiomyopathy: This is a genetic disorder that is characterized by an inability of the heart to pump blood efficiently.
Age: Ageing may cause certain changes in the body that lead to valvular heart disease.
Valvular heart disease is treated by various homeopathic remedies that do not have any side effect. It takes a holistic approach to healing the body as it gets to the root of the disease. The various homeopathic remedies for valvular heart disease are:

Cactus grandiflorus: This remedy is used in a number of heart complications such as stenosis of the valve. It helps in getting rid of the inflammation in the heart muscles, so that the heart can pump blood efficiently.
Digitalis: Digitalis is another remedy that helps in healing the muscles of the heart by regulating the pulse.
Kalmia latifolia: Kalmia latifolia is a homeopathic remedy that is used in treating various complications of the heart. It also helps in symptoms of rheumatic fever that may lead to valvular heart disease.

Hello,

I am doctor Krishna Prasad cardiothoracic surgeon practicing in Mumbai.

I would like to discuss with you all about valvular heart disease, so heart has four valves and valves can get affected by various diseases, especially rheumatic heart disease and also degenerative disease, which is due to aging and infection and other causes of valve disease.

So when the valve is diseased, the heart valve either become stenotic that means orifice or the opening becomes tight or it can be regurgitant or in other words leaking, so either it can be a tight lesion or can be regurgitant leaking lesion or it can be combined, so what we do? the surgical management in these cases are two options, one is valve replacement and other one is valve repair.

Replacement, we have two options by using metal valve or otherwise known as mechanical valve and other one is tissue valve. Tissue valve prepared from other animals or from cadavers, so there are various pros and cons and where to use there are guidelines so at a young age usually we put mechanical valve but the only problem with mechanical valve is patient has to be on long-term anticoagulant, but the advantage of mechanical valve is It stays longer because life is long with the metal valve.

Tissue valve is opted in old age above 65 or so, the main advantage is no need to take anticoagulation for a long time but the disadvantages is that new valve can undergo destruction early so re-surgeries are more common with tissue valve.

The other option as I told it's a valve repair, valve repair is possible especially in mitral, aortic valves when there is regurgitant lesions or stenotic lesions. We can address disease pathology and try to bring the valve near normal. The main advantage of having a repair is patient retains his own native valve and there is nothing like the natural valve, so no need for any anticoagulation and other thing is the disease may recur and may require surgery redo surgery at a later date, which can be performed whenever time is suitable and he develops the disease further. Otherwise repair is always the first option when it is possible, beyond any further details you can contact lybrate.

Thanks

A valve is something that allows a liquid to flow in one direction. Our heart has valves, and they play a critical role in ensuring that the blood travels in the right direction.

There are four valves in our heart:

Tricuspid
Pulmonary
Aorta
Mitral valve
A person suffers from heart valve disorder when one or more of these four valves stops functioning accurately. Each valve comes with a flap that opens and closes to allow blood flow. Disruption in the blood flow, thereby leading to serious ailments, can occur even if a single flap stops functioning. To rectify this situation a valve replacement surgery is conducted by heart surgeons. There are majorly two types of surgeries available: Mechanical and Bioprosthetic.

Mechanical Heart Valve surgery involves the replacement of the defective valve with a substitute made of metallic alloys and plastics. On the other hand, Bioprosthetic surgery is conducted using the valve tissue of an animal which is anchored to a bioprosthesis.

Mechanical Heart Valve Surgery: Pros and Cons
The prosthetics that is used in a mechanical valve replacement surgery are much more durable than those (cow or pig tissues) which are used in a bioprosthetic surgery. It lasts up to 20 to 30 years. But the major disadvantage of this surgery is that over the time the artificial replacements can lead to blood coagulation. Therefore, if you have undergone mechanical heart valve replacement, you will need a prolonged prescription of anticoagulation medicines. Unfortunately, there is plenitude of side-effects of anticoagulants. Therefore, you would have to be under medical observation through and follow the dietary restrictions (as per the instructions of the doctor). However, if you already have bleeding disorders, or are pregnant, this surgery will not be recommended for you. But, if you are already on anticoagulation medicines a mechanical surgery is the most practical option for you.

Bioprosthetic Heart Valve Surgery: Pros and Cons
Bioprosthetic surgery uses animal tissues as substitutes of the human valve tissue. Therefore, bleeding disorders are very less likely to crop up. So you do not have to depend on anticoagulants to sustain. The downside of this surgery is that the replaced tissues do not last for more than 10 years. So if your life-expectancy is high, you will need a second operation after 10-15 years. For this reason itself, bioprosthetic surgery is recommended to sexagenarians or septuagenarians who can spend the rest of their lives soundly without the need of anticoagulants or re-operation.

Which is relatively better: Depends on the patient
It can be affirmed that the surgery type completely depends upon the current medical situation of the patient undergoing surgery. For younger people, mechanical heart valve surgery works better, because with medical assistance post-surgery, a sound life is possible without the need of another hospitalization or reiteration of the surgery.

On the other hand, older people, people who need to undergo dialysis from time to time and those who have bleeding disorders or other underlying medical conditions should go for bioprosthetic heart valve replacement surgery.

Aortic valve stenosis is a heart condition in which the valve to the biggest artery- the one which provides oxygen-rich blood to our body, called aorta, is narrowed. This prevents the valve from opening fully, obstructing the blood flow from your heart into your body.

When the aortic valve doesn t open, your heart needs to work harder to pump blood to your body making the heart muscle weak. If left undiagnosed aortic stenosis is fatal.

Symptoms

These symptoms should spur you on to seek medical care right away:

Chest pain or tightness

Feeling faint with exertion

Shortness of breath

Fatigue after increased activity

Heart palpitations rapid, fluttering heartbeat

Heart murmur

The disorder doesn t produce symptoms right away and is usually diagnosed during routine physical exams when your doctor listens to your heart with a stethoscope. He usually hears a heart murmur resulting from turbulent blood flow through the narrowed aortic valve.

Diagnostic Tests

There are other ways to diagnose aortic valve stenosis and gauge the severity of the problem, like:

Echocardiogram This produces an image of your heart using sound. It is the primary test to diagnose a heart valve problem. Sound waves are directed at your heart here and these bounce off your heart and are processed electronically to provide images of your heart. This test helps your doctor check diagnose aortic valve stenosis and its severity plus chalk out a treatment plan.

Electrocardiogram (ECG) In this test, patches with electrodes are attached to your chest to measure electrical impulses given out by your heart. These are then recorded as waves on a monitor and printed on paper. Though this can t diagnose aortic stenosis directly, it can tell you that the left ventricle in your heart is thickened which normally happens due to aortic stenosis.

Chest X-ray This allows the doctor to see the shape and size of your heart directly. If the left ventricle is thickened, it points to aortic stenosis. It also helps doctor check the lungs. Aortic stenosis leads to fluid and blood in the lungs, causing congestion.

Exercise Tests Exercise is used to increase your heart rate and make your heart work harder. This test is done to see how your heart reacts to exertion.

Computerised Tomography (CT) Scan This means a series of X-rays to create images of your heart and observes the heart valves. It is also used to measure the size of aorta and the aortic valve.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) This uses powerful magnets and radio waves to create images of your heart and valves.

Once aortic valve stenosis is confirmed, you may have to go in for monitoring or heart valve surgery according to your doctor s advice.

Complications in the heart valve occur when the functioning of the heart valve is impaired. Valves of the heart allow the blood in one direction and prevent the blood from flowing back into the ventricles of the heart.
Heart valve diseases can be classified as follows:
1. Valvular stenosis:
This condition occurs when the valves of the heart do not open completely due to stiffness. As the opening is narrow, the heart has to work hard to pump blood. This condition may lead to heart failure.
2. Valvular insufficiency:
This is a condition where the valve does not close tightly. This causes some of the blood to flow back to the valve. As this condition deteriorates the heart has to work harder to pump blood.
Types and Causes of valve diseases:
1. Acquired valve disease
The structure of the valve changes due to various infections or rheumatic fever. Rheumatic fever is caused by bacterial infection that had not been treated. It tends to occur in children and cause inflammation of the valves of the heart.
2. Congenital valve disease
This condition usually affects the pulmonary valve where the size of the valve is abnormal.
3. Bicuspid aortic valve disease
It is a type of valve disease that impairs the aortic valve. Instead of the regular three cusps, the bicuspid valve only has two. This may cause the valve to be stiff or cause it to leak.
4. Mitral valve prolapse
This condition causes the valve to flop back when the heart contracts. This condition also causes the leaflets of the valve to turn irregularly and cause it to stretch. This condition causes the valve to leak.
Symptoms:
The symptoms of valve disease are as follows:
1. Weakness: This condition may cause weakness and cause severe discomfort while performing daily activities.
2. Palpitations: Symptoms such as irregular heartbeats, skipped beats and rapid heart rhythm occurs in this condition.
3. Rapid weight gain: This condition can cause you to gain weight very rapidly.
4. It may cause swelling in your ankles, abdomen and feet.
5. This condition causes shortness of breath

Aortic valve stenosis is a heart condition in which the valve to the biggest artery- the one which provides oxygen-rich blood to our body, called aorta, is narrowed. This prevents the valve from opening fully, obstructing the blood flow from your heart into your body.

When the aortic valve doesn t open, your heart needs to work harder to pump blood to your body making the heart muscle weak. If left undiagnosed aortic stenosis is fatal.

Symptoms

These symptoms should spur you on to seek medical care right away:

Chest pain or tightness

Feeling faint with exertion

Shortness of breath

Fatigue after increased activity

Heart palpitations rapid, fluttering heartbeat

Heart murmur

The disorder doesn t produce symptoms right away and is usually diagnosed during routine physical exams when your doctor listens to your heart with a stethoscope. He usually hears a heart murmur resulting from turbulent blood flow through the narrowed aortic valve.

Diagnostic Tests

There are other ways to diagnose aortic valve stenosis and gauge the severity of the problem, like:

Echocardiogram This produces an image of your heart using sound. It is the primary test to diagnose a heart valve problem. Sound waves are directed at your heart here and these bounce off your heart and are processed electronically to provide images of your heart. This test helps your doctor check diagnose aortic valve stenosis and its severity plus chalk out a treatment plan.

Electrocardiogram (ECG) In this test, patches with electrodes are attached to your chest to measure electrical impulses given out by your heart. These are then recorded as waves on a monitor and printed on paper. Though this can t diagnose aortic stenosis directly, it can tell you that the left ventricle in your heart is thickened which normally happens due to aortic stenosis.

Chest X-ray This allows the doctor to see the shape and size of your heart directly. If the left ventricle is thickened, it points to aortic stenosis. It also helps doctor check the lungs. Aortic stenosis leads to fluid and blood in the lungs, causing congestion.

Exercise Tests Exercise is used to increase your heart rate and make your heart work harder. This test is done to see how your heart reacts to exertion.

Computerised Tomography (CT) Scan This means a series of X-rays to create images of your heart and observes the heart valves. It is also used to measure the size of aorta and the aortic valve.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) This uses powerful magnets and radio waves to create images of your heart and valves.

Once aortic valve stenosis is confirmed, you may have to go in for monitoring or heart valve surgery according to your doctor s advice.

World Heart Day which is celebrated every year on 29th September was created by World Heart Federation. It was aimed at informing people around the world about cardiovascular disease (CVD). It is a global campaign through which the federation unites people in the fight against the CVD burden as well as inspires and drives international action to encourage heart-healthy living. Aortic valve stenosis is a heart condition in which the valve to the biggest artery- the one which provides oxygen-rich blood to our body, called aorta, is narrowed. This prevents the valve from opening fully, obstructing the blood flow from your heart into your body.

When the aortic valve doesn t open, your heart needs to work harder to pump blood to your body making the heart muscle weak. If left undiagnosed aortic stenosis is fatal.

Symptoms

These symptoms should spur you on to seek medical care right away:

Chest pain or tightness

Feeling faint with exertion

Shortness of breath

Fatigue after increased activity

Heart palpitations rapid, fluttering heartbeat

Heart murmur

The disorder doesn t produce symptoms right away and is usually diagnosed during routine physical exams when your doctor listens to your heart with a stethoscope. He usually hears a heart murmur resulting from turbulent blood flow through the narrowed aortic valve.

Diagnostic Tests

There are other ways to diagnose aortic valve stenosis and gauge the severity of the problem, like:

Echocardiogram This produces an image of your heart using sound. It is the primary test to diagnose a heart valve problem. Sound waves are directed at your heart here and these bounce off your heart and are processed electronically to provide images of your heart. This test helps your doctor check diagnose aortic valve stenosis and its severity plus chalk out a treatment plan.



Electrocardiogram (ECG) In this test, patches with electrodes are attached to your chest to measure electrical impulses given out by your heart. These are then recorded as waves on a monitor and printed on paper. Though this can t diagnose aortic stenosis directly, it can tell you that the left ventricle in your heart is thickened which normally happens due to aortic stenosis.

Chest X-ray This allows the doctor to see the shape and size of your heart directly. If the left ventricle is thickened, it points to aortic stenosis. It also helps doctor check the lungs. Aortic stenosis leads to fluid and blood in the lungs, causing congestion.

Exercise Tests Exercise is used to increase your heart rate and make your heart work harder. This test is done to see how your heart reacts to exertion.

Computerised Tomography (CT) Scan This means a series of X-rays to create images of your heart and observes the heart valves. It is also used to measure the size of aorta and the aortic valve.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) This uses powerful magnets and radio waves to create images of your heart and valves.

Once aortic valve stenosis is confirmed, you may have to go in for monitoring or heart valve surgery according to your doctor s advice.