Mitral valve insufficiency

Congenital mitral valve insufficiency as an isolated developmental malformation is 0.6% of all heart defects. Often it is an integral part of an open atrioventricular canal, corrected transposition of the main vessels, accompanies coronary artery anomalies, Marfan's disease, etc.

Congenital mitral valve insufficiency can be the result of deviations from the norm of all its components. The valves of the mitral valve are most often changed. Sometimes there are abnormalities in the structure of the valves of the aorta.

Features of congenital insufficiency of the mitral valve depend on the type of deformation of the valve apparatus. The only manifestation of a minor defect in the valves of the mitral valve is a rough noise, which only a doctor can determine when listening to the activity of the heart. However, from the first months and years of life, a serious course of the disease is possible with an increase in signs of increased pressure in the pulmonary artery and heart failure, a lag in physical development. Children often get SARS, there are repeated pneumonia. The cardiac hump( deformity of the chest) develops early and is pronounced sharply. The boundaries of the heart, which the doctor also determines, are widened to the left. Expansion of the boundaries of the heart occurs for the following reasons: since during the contraction of the left ventricle the valve leaves between it and the left atrium are not completely closed, the blood flows back to the atrium. Then, with a contraction of the atrium, excess blood enters the left ventricle, leading to its expansion. With prolonged course of the defect and enlargement of the left atrium, flutter or atrial fibrillation( rhythm disturbance) is possible. Heart failure is manifested by an increase in the liver and the appearance of edema. To congenital insufficiency of the mitral valve, bacterial endocarditis( bacterial lesion of the inner membrane of the heart) can join.

Additional methods of investigation in this case are: ECG, chest X-ray, ultrasound of the heart.

With certainty, the inborn failure of the mitral valve can be detected only on the operating table. There is an opinion that surgical treatment is necessary only in cases of expressed congenital insufficiency of the mitral valve, when, despite medical treatment, the child's condition progressively worsens. In many cases of congenital insufficiency of the mitral valve, it is impossible to perform a valve that preserves the operation and it is necessary to resort to prosthetics.