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Causes
By Mayo Clinic staff
When your heart is working properly, the mitral valve closes completely during contraction of the left ventricle and prevents blood from flowing back into your heart's upper left chamber (left atrium). But in some people with mitral valve prolapse, the mitral valve's flaps (leaflets) have extra tissue, bulging (prolapsing) like a parachute into their left atrium each time the heart contracts.
The bulging may keep the valve from closing tightly. When blood leaks backward through the valve, it's called mitral regurgitation. This may not cause problems if only a small amount of blood leaks back into the atrium. More severe mitral valve regurgitation can cause symptoms, such as shortness of breath, fatigue, lightheadedness or a cough.
Another name for mitral valve prolapse is click-murmur syndrome. When a doctor listens to your heart using a stethoscope, he or she may hear a clicking sound as the valve's leaflets billow out, followed by a murmur resulting from blood flowing back into the atrium. Other names to describe mitral valve prolapse include:
- Barlow's syndrome
- Floppy valve syndrome
- Ballooning mitral valve syndrome
Mitral valve prolapse often runs in families and may be linked to other conditions, such as:
- Marfan syndrome
- Ehlers-Danlos syndrome
- Adult polycystic kidney disease
- Ebstein's anomaly
- Curvature of the spine (scoliosis)
- Sorrentino MJ. Definition and diagnosis of mitral valve prolapse. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Feb. 13, 2009.
- Mitral valve and mitral valve prolapse. American Heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4717. Accessed March 10, 2009.
- Mitral valve prolapse. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/mvp/mvp_all.html. Accessed March 10, 2009.
- Taub CC, et al. Mitral valve prolapse in Marfan syndrome: An old topic revisited. Echocardiography. 2008;e[#]. http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/121536695/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0. Accessed March 19, 2009.
- Sorrentino MJ. Arrhythmic complications of mitral valve prolapse. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Feb. 13, 2009.
- Sorrentino MJ. Nonarrythmic complications of mitral valve prolapse. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Feb. 13, 2009.
- Nishimura RA. ACC/AHA guideline update on valvular heart disease: Focused update on infective endocarditis. Circulation. 2008;118:887.
- Grogan M. (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. March 27, 2009.
