Mitral valve prolapse or MVP indicates a health condition, where two different flaps of one’s mitral valve fail to close in an even or smooth way and instead, they bulge upward within the left atrium. Whenever your heart pumps i.e. contracts, part of any one or both of the flaps collapse backward within the left atrium. In some of the cases, prolapsed valve leads to leakage of blood in small amount in the backwards from the valve resulting in heart murmur.
Mitral valve prolapse in most of the cases does not cause any harm. In fact, a large number of individuals with this condition often remain unaware about it and their health do not affect in any way. However, in some of the cases, one has to undergo treatment based on his/her underlying condition as well as require taking certain precautions to manage the problem.
Can You Prevent Mitral Valve Prolapse?
Most of the mitral valve prolapse patients and their family members often ask a common question i.e. how can they prevent the condition. For this, we should say that one cannot prevent the problem of mitral valve prolapse, as individuals often have this disease by birth. Especially, women remain prone to mitral valve prolapse as compared to men.
Positively, complications associated with mitral valve prolapse, like for instance bacterial infection of the heart valve i.e. infective endocarditis and irregular heartbeat, i.e. arrhythmias are rare. Only individuals underwent with any type of underlying heart problem, valve replacement or valve repair in the past remain at higher risk to suffer from IE type of infection.
Preventive Measures to Avoid Complications
However, if you are at relatively higher risk to any of the aforementioned complications, especially IE i.e. an infection of your valves and heart chambers inner linings, you have to take the essential preventive measures to avoid or reduce further complications.
Antibiotics. Doctors often recommend for suitable antibiotics to patients remain at relatively higher risk related to infective endocarditis prior to recommend for any other treatment.
Dental Work And Surgery. In case antibiotics prescribed by the doctor/cardiologist fail to provide adequate protection to your condition or reduce your risk related to IE, doctors recommend for dental work and surgery. Accordingly, you have to schedule appointment with your cardiac surgeon/doctor and dentist along with antibiotics to prevent your valve inner lining infections.
Other Preventative Measures. Along with antibiotics and appointment with the doctor or dentist (depending on underlying condition), patients remain at higher risk of IE and irregular heartbeat should strictly avoid lifting heavy weights, as doing so may cause deterioration of the mitral valve prolapse.
Cause And Detection Of Mitral Valve Prolapse
Valve leaflets stretched in an abnormal way is the prime cause of mitral valve prolapse, and cardiologists call it myxomatous valve disease. Mitral valve prolapse often takes place in approximately 2% of the entire population. An individual may born with the genetic risk related to the development of mitral valve prolapse or it may take place because of other similar types of health problems, including few of the connective tissue problems.
As most of the patients dealing with mitral valve prolapse condition do not experience any symptom, doctors detect a murmur while doing the patient’s physical examination. Accordingly, healthcare providers use a simple stethoscope to listen the heartbeat. However, when symptoms occur, individuals experience palpitations i.e. rapid heartbeat, fatigue and feeling of discomfort in the chest.
In case doctors detect murmur to suggest mitral valve prolapse, they recommend you undergoing for echo i.e. echocardiogram. The echo utilizes ultrasound for the evaluation of various valve cusps characteristic and the amount of blood leaked i.e. regurgitated from the heart valve whenever it contracts. Besides this, cardiologists may recommend you angiogram or MRI i.e. magnetic resonance imaging test. Results obtained and extent of the symptoms from MRI will help your doctor to determine whether you need further tests or not.
Conclusion
To conclude, we should say that the condition of mitral valve prolapse is not preventable. However, you may control your symptoms and in case of any risk related to infection, you have to intake antibiotics and schedule appointment with the doctor regularly.
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