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Heart Disease (Expert Forum)
What is the long term outlook for this?
This forum is for questions and support regarding heart issues such as: Angina, Angioplasty, Arrhythmia, Bypass Surgery, Cardiomyopathy, Coronary Artery Disease, Defibrillator, Heart Attack, Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure, Mitral Valve Prolapse, Pacemaker, PAD, Stenosis, Stress Tests.
What is the long term outlook for this?
by Martha__0__0, Dec 08, 1998 12:00AM
Lately I have episode of a pounding heart waking me from sleep, sometimes in the daytime I have palpitations, and sometimes my heart races. I have bouts of nausea and weakness. Are all of these related to mvp. My head feels so strange and full of pressure and I have weird pains in my head alot. When I have an attack I get weak arms and legs to the point of shaking all over. When should I get concerned enough to go to the hospital? What is normal if there is such a thing? Please give me some much needed advice. Thanks for listening!
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Dear Martha,
I would encourage you to have this evaluated by your doctor the next time you have an episode. Most likely it is nothing to worry about but it never hurts to have these things checked out. Below is additional information on MVP.
Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) is a condition of the mitral valve where the leaflets of the valve cross back into the atrium (upper chamber) of the heart during the pumping phase of the heartbeat. It is more common in women and has been associated (but not demonstrated to cause) with a number of symptoms such as palpitations, panic attacks and other complaints. It is more common in women. There may be some back-flow of blood into the atrium due to the prolapse and this is called mitral regurgitation.
MVP is generally a benign process and does not require any special treatment or cause for concern. If there is mitral regurgitation associated with MVP antibiotics are recommended before dental procedures and certain other medical procedures to reduce the risk of an infection starting on the valve (endocarditis). Severe regurgitation due to MVP may require surgery to repair the valve.
Supraventricular tachycardias are fast heart beats originating from the upper chambers of the heart. They may be associated with MVP and are often treated with beta-blockers. Potential side-effects of beta-blockers are fatigue, depression and impotence in men. If you notice any of these symptoms you should notify your doctor. Here are some additional websites with information.
http://www.stayhealthy.com/hrdfiles/hrd00277.html
http://www.beWELL.com/healthy/woman/1997/mvp/
http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/6911/
http://www.rxmed.com/illnesses/mitral_valve_prolapse.html
I hope you find this information useful. Information provided in the heart forum is for general purposes only. Only your physician can provide specific diagnoses and therapies. Please feel free to write back with additional questions.
If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please call 1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at www.ccf.org/heartcenter. The Heart Center website contains a directory of the cardiology staff that can be used to select the physician best suited to address your cardiac problem.
