MItral Valve Prolapse

Hello,

I was recently diagnosed with Mitral Valve Prolapse. I'm 32 year old male. My cardio says its mild with trivial leak. He gave me all the tests (stress, etc.) as I'm someone who is into lots of sports. He basically said this is something you should not worry about at all and compared it as a normal variant of an otherwise healthy heart. He said you have no restrictions, you can do whatever you want. Of course I had to go on the internet and saw many scary stories about sudden death, valve replacement, etc. I also read that people with MVP should not lift weights (I'm not a heavy lifter, just usually do high reps with light weights for muscle tone). Anyway, should I be concerned about lifting weights and now feel that I need to restrict myself when running, biking, swimming, skiing, and doing all the other things I love to do? Is this really as common as he says it is?

[Mukesh Garg, MD]

Your doctor is right, usually with MVP and trivial leak the prognosis is usually good if the amount of leakage does not increase. Depending on the amount of leakage and the thickness of the valve you may benefit from taking antibiotics prior to certain dental and surgical procedures. You need to discuss this with the cardiologist taking care of you

[miami987]

Also, is there anything else I should be careful about or avoid with MVP? Maybe I'm overreacting, but it helps to get reassurance. Thanks!

[kitcurious]

I have MVP with mild leakage. There's nothing wrong. Go for your regular exams and forget about it.
I ride my bike at least 50 miles a week and do aerobics as well. I would love to do 100 miles if I didn't have to be the mom chauffeur and conform to other's schedules. :-)  

On occasion, I lift very light weights (4 pounds?) as part of the aerobics.  If you have significant valve leakage you would want to avoid heavy weights.
Ask your doc specifically about that. Trivial leakage may not  cause you to need to curtail weightlifting at all.

You also don't need antibiotics before the dentist anymore. AHA changed that recommendation last spring. They only recommend antibiotics for sick people.

You don't need to do anything. You are healthy and so is your heart. Your doctor wouldn't lie to you and the Internet is a goofy place. You see all sorts of scenarios that don't apply to you because those are different cases with different conditions.