Cause And Diagnoses

Causes and Diagnoses of Mitral Valve Disease

The causes and diagnoses for mitral valve disease vary for the two general forms: mitral regurgitation/insufficiency (including mitral valve prolapse) and mitral stenosis. Causes include:

Mitral valve insufficiency/regurgitation

Common causes of mitral valve insufficiency/regurgitation include:

• Rheumatic fever
• Mitral valve prolapse
• Mitral annulus calcification
• Infective endocarditis (an infection that affects the lining of the heart's chambers and the heart valves)
• Congenital causes (present at birth)
• Weakened heart muscle caused by a heart attack
• Rheumatic heart disease
• Infections of the heart valve
• Weakness of the heart muscle that has dilated due to primary heart muscle disease
• Hereditary factors in patients with floppy mitral valve under the age of 40 years

Mitral valve prolapse

Causes of mitral valve prolapse include:

• Myxomatous degeneration (deterioration of connective tissue, particularly the heart's valves)
• Barlow syndrome
• Marfan syndrome
• Rheumatic heart disease
• Hereditary factors in a portion of patients with a family history of mitral valve prolapse

Mitral valve stenosis

The most common cause of mitral stenosis is rheumatic fever (an inflammatory disease that may develop after an infection with Streptococcus bacteria, such as strep throat or scarlet fever). It usually takes two or more years after the rheumatic episode for the stenotic, or thickened, valve to develop. Most patients don't have symptoms, however, for 15 to 20 years after an episode of rheumatic fever.