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Mitral valve prolapse - Symptom

Alternative Names

Barlow syndrome; Floppy mitral valve; Myxomatous mitral valve; Billowing mitral valve; Systolic click-murmur syndrome; Prolapsing mitral leaflet syndrome

Symptoms:

Sensation of feeling the heart beat (palpitations)
Chest pain (not caused by coronary artery disease or a heart attack)
Hard to breath after activity
Fatigue
Cough
Shortness of breath when lying flat (orthopnea)

Note: There may be no symptoms or symptoms may develop slowly.

Signs and tests:

The doctor will perform a physical exam and use a stethoscope to listen to your heart and lungs. The doctor may feel a thrill (vibration) over the heart, and hear a heart murmur ("mid-systolic click"). The murmur gets louder when you stand up.

Blood pressure is usually normal.

The following tests may be used to diagnose mitral valve prolapse pr a leaky mitral valve:

Echocardiogram
Color-flow Doppler examination
Cardiac catheterization
Chest x-ray
ECG (may show arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation)
Chest MRI
CT scan of the chest

Heart, section through the middle

Mitral valve prolapse

Heart valve surgery - series

Reviewed last on: 5/12/2008
Larry A. Weinrauch, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, and Private practice specializing in Cardiovascular Disease, Watertown, MA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

References

American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association: ACC/AHA 2006 guidelines for the management of patients with valvular heart disease. A report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines (writing committee to revise the 1998 guidelines for the Management of Patients With Valvular Heart Disease). J Am Coll Cardiol. 2006; 48:1-148.

Salem DN, Stein PD, Al-Ahmad A, et al. Antithrombotic therapy in valvular heart disease -- native and prosthetic: the Seventh ACCP Conference on Antithrombotic and Thrombolytic Therapy. Chest. 2004 Sep;126(3 Suppl):457S-82S.

Karchmer AW. Infective Endocarditis. In: Libby P, Bonow RO, Mann DL, Zipes DP, eds. Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine, 8th ed. St. Louis, Mo: WB Saunders; 2007: chap. 63.

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