When the mitral valve becomes narrowed, it’s referred to as Mitral Valve Stenosis (sometimes referred to simply as Mitral Stenosis). The main pumping chamber of your heart is blocked because of an abnormal valve that does not open properly (left ventricle). As a result of mitral valve stenosis, you may experience fatigue and shortness of breath.
Mitral valve stenosis is primarily caused by rheumatic fever, a strep infection-related illness. The mitral valve can be damaged by rheumatic fever, which is now uncommon in the United States but common in developing countries. Mitral valve stenosis, if left untreated, can cause serious heart problems.
Signs that indicate mitral stenosis condition:
The condition usually worsens gradually over time. Mitral valve stenosis can make you feel fine or cause mild symptoms for decades. Mitral valve stenosis symptoms typically appear between the ages of 15 and 40, but they can occur at any age, including childhood.
These are the symptoms and signs of mitral valve stenosis
- Breathlessness, particularly when active or lying down.
- Fatigue, particularly during periods of increased activity
- Foot or leg swelling
- Feelings of a fluttering, rapid heartbeat (palpitations)
- Discomfort or pain in the chest
- spitting up blood
- Fainting or dizziness
- Murmur in the heart
- Fluid accumulation in the lungs
- Heart rhythm irregularities
Understanding the mitral stenosis causes:
Rheumatic fever
Rheumatic fever, a complication of strep throat, can harm the mitral valve. It is the most significant cause of mitral valve stenosis. It can harm the mitral valve by thickening or fusing the flaps. Mitral valve stenosis symptoms may not appear for several years.
Deposits of calcium
Calcium deposits (annulus) can form around the mitral valve as you get older, causing mitral valve stenosis.
Radiation therapy
Treatment for certain types of cancer that require chest radiation can cause the mitral valve to thicken and harden.
Other causative factors
In rare cases, babies are born with a narrowed mitral valve (congenital defect), which causes long-term problems. Some autoimmune diseases, such as lupus, can also cause mitral valve stenosis in rare cases.
What are the diagnostic procedures for identifying mitral stenosis?
Your cardiologist doctor will inquire about your medical history and perform a physical examination, which will include a stethoscope examination of your heart. A heart murmur is an abnormal heart sound caused by mitral valve stenosis.
Your doctor will also listen to your lungs to check for lung congestion, which can be caused by mitral valve stenosis. Lung congestion is the accumulation of fluid in the lungs.
Your doctor will then determine which diagnostic tests are necessary and whether you need to be referred to a specialist in heart conditions (cardiologist).
Few tests for mitral stenosis diagnosis can include,
Electrocardiogram (ECG)
Wires (electrodes) attached to pads on your skin measure electrical signals from your heart to determine your heart rhythm. During an ECG, you may walk on a treadmill or pedal a stationary bike to determine how your heart reacts to physical activity.
Cardiac catheterization
This test is rarely used to diagnose mitral valve stenosis, but it may be used if other tests are unable to diagnose or determine the severity of the condition. A catheter is threaded through a blood vessel, typically in the groin, and into an artery in the heart. A dye flows through the catheter to enhance the X-ray visibility of the artery.
How is mitral stenosis treated?
Mild valve stenosis symptoms can be treated with medication. When medications don’t control symptoms, balloon valvotomy or valve repair or replacement is done.
Balloon valvotomy improves heart function by opening a narrowed valve. Surgical valve repair or replacement may be options if balloon valvotomy cannot be performed. To repair a valve, the leaflets may be separated, sewn, or reshaped. Damaged valves are replaced with mechanical or biological valves.
Balloon Mitral Valvotomy involves
A stenotic (narrowed) valve can be made wider by performing a balloon valvotomy. What can you do with it?
- Patients with symptoms of mitral valve stenosis should be considered.
- Aortic valve stenosis in an elderly patient unable to undergo surgery.
- Pulmonary valve stenosis affects some patients.
- It is possible to perform a balloon valvotomy on the mitral, tricuspid, aortic, or pulmonary valve with this technique.
Treatment guidelines involved during the procedure
A cardiologist and a team of nurses and technicians perform balloon valvotomy in the cardiac catheterization lab.
Catheters are inserted into groin blood vessels and guided to the heart chambers. The cardiologist makes a small hole in the heart’s upper chambers. This hole provides access to the left atrium for a balloon-tipped catheter.
The catheter’s balloon tip is inside the narrowed valve. Multiple inflations and deflations widen the valve opening. Once the cardiologist decides the valve is wide enough, the balloon is deflated and removed.
The cardiologist may perform an echocardiogram (heart ultrasound) to better see the mitral valve.
It’s unlikely that a narrowed and the calcified mitral valve will self-heal. Typically, this is a long-term condition that worsens over time. You may have no symptoms at all or only mild ones in the early stages, but as the disease progresses, damage to the left atrium may worsen, resulting in more severe symptoms. Reach out to the Mitral valve stenosis treatment in Coimbatore for advanced treatment.
Although mild symptoms can be managed with certain medications and monitoring, keyhole heart surgery is the best option for later stages. Surgeons can usually operate on the mitral valve and repair or replace it with a minimally invasive procedure.
Procedure selection is based on a variety of factors, including the type and degree, and severity of symptoms, the severity of mitral stenosis, the heart’s ability to perform its normal functions, and the availability of available procedures. Following the treatment, it is important to maintain a diet for mitral valve stenosis to avoid the recurrence of the condition.
