Coaptation of Mitral Valve with Mild Regurgitation

[mmked]

Hi, I'm new to the group here. I just have a couple questions about this. I had an echo done and it diagnosed me as having coaptation of the mitral valve with mild regurgitation. Can anyone tell me about this? What does it mean? Is it a worse or better diagnosis than mitral valve prolapse? Will there be a problem if I get pregnant again? Was this a condition I was born with? My Dad has bicuspid valve, is there any connection between these two? Is this hereditary? What is the outcome? Thanks in advance!

    Risa

[CCF-M.D.-MJM]

Hello,

I don't think you should worry to much about this echo study.  The word coaptation was probably meant to be more descriptive, saying that your mitral valve leaflets come together.  Mild mitral regurgitation is very seldom something to worry about.

Mitral valve prolapse is a continuum from just being a descriptive term to severe leaking and the need for surgery.  I think comparing the two is not an easy thing to do.

Will there be a problem if I get pregnant again?

No.

Was this a condition I was born with?

I am no sure that I would describe this as a condition.  It sounds like you have mild mitral regurg because your mitral leaflets do not come together.  If you have symptoms, it makes sense to recheck an echo in the future but I do not think this is something you need to worry about.

My Dad has bicuspid valve, is there any connection between these two? Is this hereditary?

No.

What is the outcome?

I doubt there will be any significant consequences of this.  Keep your doctor informed about any changes in your symptoms but I don't think you need to wory about this.  Good luck and thanks for posting.

[kitcurious]

Well, I'm not sure how much of this I am allowed to post because it refers to a website, but this is the response I got from a geneticist to the inheritance question. I truncated my question because most people reading here probably already know that I have the mitral valve problems in three straight generations of my family:


Q:Can a propensity to problems with a certain heart valve be
inherited?
If so, is there a way to prenatally test for such a trait ?

A: Some forms are indeed hereditary although the genes have not yet been
identified which means there is no prenatal test available yet.  See
<http://www.emedicine.com/ped/byname/mitral-valve-prolapse.htm> to learn
more about mitral valve prolapse and how it can be passed down in a family.

The condition is autosomal dominant which means having one of your two
copies of a gene be the MVP version is enough to cause the condition.  This
means if one parent has the condition, each child has a 50-50 shot at
getting the gene as well.

The gene is also variably penetrant.  What this awful term means is that the
severity of the symptoms will vary between people depending on a bunch of
factors we don’t understand.  We talk about something similar with regard to
cleft chin at <http://www.thetech.org/genetics/ask.php?id=47>


Did this help?  If anything is unclear or you have any other questions, feel
free to email us back.

Ask a Geneticist Staff

[kitcurious]

Well, I think it's still understandable after they blanked out the addresses of the sites LOL.

[mmked]

Thanks everyone for the replies! They were all very helpful.

   Risa