Is It Possible To Cure Mitral Valve Prolapse?

August 23rd, 2007

As I remember…

When I was first diagnosed with heart valve disease, my immediate thought was, “Okay. What’s the first step to treating it? It must be curable, right?”

For this reason, when I receive an email that reads, “What’s mitral valve prolapse? Or, how can I cure mitral valve prolapse?”, I tend to stop and remember that moment.

As for the first part of the question, mitral valve prolapse effects the flaps (or leaflets) of the mitral valve. Simply put, the valve leaflets don’t seal properly. In mitral valve prolapse, one of the flaps, or leaflets, moves back into the atrium when the heart beats. This “prolapse”, or buckling, enables blood to flow from the ventricle back into the atrium as shown in the anatomy of the heart.

So you know, about one in twenty Americans has mitral valve prolapse – so, it’s a relatively common heart valve disorder. People are usually born with it as a congenital condition. Interestingly, more women have mitral valve prolapse and mitral valve prolapse symptoms than men.

Now, for the tough part of the question… “How To Cure Mitral Valve Prolapse?”

Well, the first thing you should know is that many people with mitral valve prolapse do not need to treat, or cure, their mitral valve prolapse. If the blood flow back into the ventrical is trivial, no treatment is necessary.

However, if the blood flow back into the ventricle is significant – a cardiac disease known as mitral regurgitation – the heart becomes strained as it is forced to work “overtime” to help circulate blood throughout the heart. If this occurs, symptoms of mitral valve prolapse may manifest in the patient.

Sometimes, this may result in the patient taking medication to enhance the flow of blood through the mitral valve.
Other times, if the mitral valve prolapse is very significant, the patient may need to have mitral valve repair or mitral valve replacement surgery.

I hope this help you better understand mitral valve prolapse and how to cure it.

Keep on tickin!

About The Author: Adam Pick is a double, heart valve surgery patient and author of The Patient's Guide To Heart Valve Surgery. This unique book integrates clinical research with the personal experiences of 135 former patients to help future patients and their caregivers better understand the problems, the opportunities and the realities of heart valve surgery. To learn more about Adam and his heart valve surgery book, click here.