mitral valve regurgitation

[suzh]

i am a 43 year old female. i had an ekg this summer which my doctor said showed heart damage which was a surprise since i haven't had any problems. the results said that it showed poor r-wave progression with slight st-segment elevation in lead v1-v4.   i then went for an echo and a stress test after which i was shown to have slight mitral regurgitation but everything else looked fine.
my questions are,  what do the results of the ekg mean and how is the mitral regurgitation different or similar to mvp?  is it okay to run, i currently run 5 days a week. also, as of now i have only seen my primary doctor about this, not a cardiologist, should i pursue that?  i also have low hdl's, 40 with ratio of 5.15.
thanks for your help, i don't want to over react but i also don't want to under react.

[CCF-M.D.-MJM]

Hello Suzh,

please don't stop running and feeling healthy.

EKGs are a great screening tool for finding acute heart problems and also for diagnosing some chronic heart conditions.  EKGs can be also lead you down the wrong direction as well.

If you had an echo and a stress test that were normal and your doctor has no additional concerns about the EKG, please continue as you were prior to the EKG.

Just about everyone will have some degree of mitral valve leaking on echo.  The test is very good at seeing small amounts of leakage.  If your mitral regurgitation is only trace to 1+, I would not worry about.  If it is 2+, I would have your doctor keep an eye on it, but it is not a problem for now.

Your LDL is greater than 160, I would actively pursue diet and exercise changes, and consider starting a statin if you cannot control it after 6 months.  If  you have other cardiac risk factors, you should talk to your doctor about how many risk factors you have and if you should be on a statin.

Good luck and keep running as long as your doctor is no longer concerned.

[wmac]

Great I just at my echo from 6/04/03 and it says 4+ mitral valve regurgitation, then at interpretations it says, Mild thickening of the anterior mitral valve leaflet. There is on diagnostic mitral valve prolapse. Mitral function is normal with only trace mitral valve regurgitation. I also just got back from the University of Utah medical Hospital for my second opinon From Dr. Freedman and he says that my mvp is the cause of my vtach, he did a single average ekg and a MRI of my heart and says there is nothing to worry about, he is not concerned about my mvp. but my 4+ is alot more than the 1+ noted above.
wmac

[wmac]

I forgot to say I also had a echo in August of this year and they said if fine and i have normal healthy heart. Although I am concerned about the 4+ whatever that means on my mvp.
wmac

[wmac]

My husband looked and my report and believes that its suppose to say .4+ because on the paper it says /4+ and the / and . are right next to each other on the key board.
wmac

[hankstar]

I don't see how it could be a 4+ with only trace regurgitation .4+ would same more logical to me 4+ would qualify as moderate/severe regurgitation from my understanding.

Please confirm with your doctor if in doubt.

[divanty]

A related discussion, echocardiagram report was started.