Mitral Valve Prolapse

On this page

Basics

• Summary
• Start Here
• Diagnosis and Tests

Learn More

• Related Issues

See, Play and Learn

• Videos and Tutorials

Research

• Clinical Trials
• Journal Articles

Resources

• Reference Desk
• Find an Expert

For You

• Children
• Patient Handouts

Summary

Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) occurs when one of your heart's valves doesn't work properly. The flaps of the valve are "floppy" and don't close tightly. Most people who have the condition are born with it. It also tends to run in families.

Most of the time, MVP doesn't cause any problems. Rarely, blood can leak the wrong way through the floppy valve. This can cause

• Palpitations (feelings that your heart is skipping a beat, fluttering, or beating too hard or too fast)
• Shortness of breath
• Cough
• Fatigue, dizziness, or anxiety
• Migraine headaches
• Chest discomfort

Most people who have mitral valve prolapse (MVP) don't need treatment because they don't have symptoms and complications. If you need treatment for MVP, medicines can help relieve symptoms or prevent complications. Very few people will need surgery to repair or replace the mitral valve.

MVP puts you at risk for infective endocarditis, a kind of heart infection. To prevent it, doctors used to prescribe antibiotics before dental work or certain surgeries. Now, only people at high risk of endocarditis need the antibiotics.

NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Start Here

• Mitral Valve Prolapse (American Heart Association)
• Mitral Valve Prolapse (Texas Heart Institute) Also in Spanish

Diagnosis and Tests

• Heart Health Tests: MedlinePlus Health Topic (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish

Related Issues

• Problem: Mitral Valve Regurgitation (American Heart Association)

Videos and Tutorials

• Minimally Invasive Heart Surgery: Robot Assisted Mitral Valve Repair (BroadcastMed) - Baptist Health South Florida, Miami, FL, 6/23/2010 Also in Spanish
• Minimally Invasive Mitral Valve Repair (BroadcastMed) - St. Francis Health Center, Greenville, SC, 1/10/2013
• Minimally Invasive, Nonsurgical Approach to Repairing Mitral Valve Leaks (BroadcastMed) - Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, Winston-Salem, NC, 7/07/2014

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Mitral Valve Prolapse (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: Comparison of Outcomes of Mitral Valve Repair for Leaflet Prolapse...
• Article: Excessive leaflet tissue in mitral valve repair for isolated posterior...
• Article: A complex valve anatomy for Mitraclip: Forme fruste of Barlow's...
• Mitral Valve Prolapse -- see more articles

Reference Desk

• How the Heart Works (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

Find an Expert

• American Heart Association
• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Children

• Mitral Valve Prolapse (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• Mitral Valve Prolapse (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Patient Handouts

• Mitral valve prolapse (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Mitral valve surgery - minimally invasive (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Mitral valve surgery - open (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish