Mitral Valve Regurg.

[aembry]

I am only 22 and may possibly have mitral valve regurgitation and I am freaking out. This all started about 4 months ago.. I started having palpitations on a daily basis. Had and EKG and wore a holter monitor and was told that I just had PVCs and PACs and they were nothing to worry about. I finally decided to see a cardiologist in october because the palps continued. The doc heard 2 heart murmurs so he sent me for an echo. Echo came back normal and he said it showed nothing. I am in ultrasound school and the place where I am doing clinicals has echo. I had them to check out my heart for me just for a second opinion to make sure there really was nothing going on. And they said that I had mild mitral regurgitation. Should I go see another cardiologist and have another echo done to see if I really do have this? I am really scared and I don't know what to expect. We thought my palpitations was only stress/anixety... but could it be from the regurgitation?? And could the extra flow caused by my stress cause a bit of regurgitation?? Do I need to be concerned?? I've already read so many horror stories on the internet and about heart failure and I am terrified!!

[aembry]

Thank you for clearing that up. This is all so confusing. Is there a risk for me of developing a harmful arrhythmia from having the PVCs, because of the regurgitation?

[Jerry_NJ]

Regurgitation and Prolapse are different. Regurgitation is characterized by valve that does not complete (or normally, nothing 100%) close the passage between the left atrium and ventricle.  It is also called leakage from the obvious of the description I gave.  In my case I had no palpitations that I was aware of, but my wife of 50 years said she felt it when we were young, but... there may have been a reason other than regurgitation.  I developed mild AFib that caused me to discuss it with my primary care doctor when I was in my early 50s.  I have wore the long term monitor and all that was detected was AFib.  I had heart surgery when I was 68 and the valve was repaired, so three years later I'm still using my mitral valve and there is very little leakage.  I remain in AFib which is not now related to my valves.

[aembry]

Do you all get palpitations? Jerry I know you said you have atrial fib, but did you have palpitations before you developed this. And is MVP and mitral regurgitation the same thing? I do not have MVP that I know of, or atleast I have never been diagnosed with it. I was born with a heart murmur that my parents were told would go away, so I am kinda wondering if maybe that is related.

[cindy707]

Try not to panic here.....over 30% of the entire population has MVP believe it or not its pretty common.  I was diagnosed with it in junior high school ....i am now in my mid 50's and there has been absolutely no change in the prolapse.  Alot depends on the degree of the prolapse tho....i know i go in once a year for a echo to make sure theres been no progression and thus far zilch.  From what i understand when things happen it is much later in life when you are a senior citizen....It would make sense to me that if you are freaking yourself out over this that your heart would def. pump faster thus speeding up the process of a little backflow...as far as being concerned all i can tell you is that you need to listen to your doc and if they are saying what you have doesn;t need to be treated why worry?  I've had mine for over 40 years (geez did i really say that ewwwww)  and i think this is one of those things that the internet is not your friend because you are probably looking at the worst case scenarios...if you do your research CHF also occurs at much much later stages of life when MVP is a factor.  You need to be fully informed here and the only way to do it is to have a sit down with your doc.....write out a list of questions that are really bothering you and address them one by one by one...all of our bodies are unique and you really can't compare your situ to anyone elses....relax.....unless your doc tells you to be worried then i would grab life by the gusto and live it........in the bigger scheme of things MVP is pretty tame for most people your age unless you hear diff. from the doc.......

[Jerry_NJ]

MV Regurgitation is also know as leakage.  I had the condition, mostly without any symptoms until I was about 55. Then the leakage may have contributed to the development of Atrial Fibrillation, which was controlled with medication for another 10 years.  My "regurgitation" (leakage) finally resulted in some heart enlargement... not sure why I tell you all of this, my intention was to say you most likely don't have anything to worry about.  

I would take the reading my Cardiologist got before some reading obtained in a school environment.  In any case, it may be reasonable to get another opinion if you can afford it (Echos run about $600 which I have been spared as it is covered by my insurance).  But, as I said, even if you have "mild" regurgitation it is unlikely that any treatment would be necessary.  Perhaps you need to clear up the stress/anxiety question as your next step.