Dr. Kulick received his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Southern California, School of Medicine. He performed his residency in internal medicine at the Harbor-University of California Los Angeles Medical Center and a fellowship in the section of cardiology at the Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Medical Center. He is board certified in Internal Medicine and Cardiology.
Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.
What Are the Symptoms and Signs of Mitral Valve Prolapse?
Most people with mitral valve prolapse have no symptoms, however, those who
do commonly complain of symptoms such as fatigue, palpitations, chest pain,
anxiety, and migraine headaches. Stroke is a very rare complication of mitral
valve prolapse.
Fatigue is the most common complaint, although the reason for fatigue is not
understood. Patients with mitral valve prolapse may have imbalances in their
autonomic nervous system, which regulates heart rate and breathing. Such
imbalances may cause inadequate blood oxygen delivery to the working muscles
during exercise, thereby causing fatigue.
Palpitations are sensations of fast or irregular heart beats.
Mitral valve prolapse (also known as "click murmur syndrome" and "Barlow's syndrome") is the most common heart valve abnormality, affecting five to ten percent of the world population. A normal mitral valve consists of two thin leaflets, located between the left atrium and the left ventricle of the heart. Mitral valve leaflets, shaped like parachutes, are attached to the inner wall of the left ventricle by a series of strings called "chordae." When the ventricles contract, the mitral valve leaflets close snugly and prevent the backflow of blood from the left ventricle into the left atrium. When the ventricles relax, the valves open to allow oxygenated blood from the lungs to fill the left ventricle.
In patients with mitral valve prolapse, the mitral apparatus (valve leaflets and chordae) becomes affected by a process called myxomatous degeneration. In myxomatous degeneration, the structural protein collagen forms abnormally and causes thickening, enlargement, and redundancy of the leaflets and chordae. When the ventricles contract, the redundant leaflets prolapse (flop backwards) into the left atrium, sometimes allowing leakage of blood through the valve opening (mitral regurgitation). When severe, mitral regurgitation can lead to heart failure and abnormal heart rhythms. Most patients are totally unaware of the prolapsing of the mitral valve. Others may experience a number of symptoms discussed below.
The mitral valve prolapse (MVP) syndrome has a strong hereditary tendency, although the exact cause is unknown. Affected family members are often tall, thin, with long arms and fingers, and straight backs. It is seen most commonly in women from 20 to 40 years old, but also occurs in men.
Anxiety is a feeling of apprehension and fear characterized by physical symptoms. Anxiety disorders are serious medical illnesses that affect approximately 19 million American adults.
Headaches can be divided into two categories: primary headaches and secondary headaches. Migraine headaches, tension headaches, and cluster headaches are considered primary headaches. Secondary headaches are caused by disease. Headache symptoms vary with the headache type. Over-the-counter pain relievers provide short-term relief for most headaches.
A stroke results from impaired oxygen delivery to brain cells via the bloodstream. A stroke is also referred to as a CVA, or cerebrovascular incident. Symptoms of stroke include: sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg. Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding. Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes, sudden trouble walking, dizziness, or loss of balance, and/or sudden severe headache with no known cause. A TIA, or transient ischemic attack is a short-lived temporary impairment of the brain caused by loss of blood supply. Stroke is a medical emergency.
Panic attacks are sudden feelings of terror that strike without warning. These episodes can occur at any time, even during sleep. A person experiencing a panic attack may believe that he or she is having a heart attack or that death is imminent. The fear and terror that a person experiences during a panic attack are not in proportion to the true situation and may be unrelated to what is happening around them. Most people with panic attacks experience several of the following symptoms: racing heartbeat, faintness, dizzyness, numbness or tingling in the hands and fingers, chills, chest pains, difficulty breathing, and a feeling of loss or control. There are several treatments for panic attacks.
Migraine is usually periodic attacks of headaches on one or both sides of the head. These may be accompanied by nausea, vomiting, increased sensitivity of the eyes to light (photophobia), increased sensitivity to sound (phonophobia), dizziness, blurred vision, cognitive disturbances, and other symptoms. Treatments for migraine headache include therapies that may or may not involve medications.
Palpitations are unpleasant sensations of irregular and/or forceful beating of the heart. Palpitations can be relieved in many patients by stress reduction, stopping cigarettes, and reduction of caffeine and alcohol.
Depression is an illness that involves the body, mood, and thoughts and affects the way a person eats and sleeps, the way one feels about oneself, and the way one thinks about things. The principal types of depression are major depression, dysthymia, and bipolar disease (also called manic-depressive disease).
Premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) are premature heartbeats originating from the ventricles of the heart. PVCs are premature because they occur before the regular heartbeat. There are many causes of premature ventricular contractions to include: heart attack, high blood pressure, congestive heart failure, mitral valve prolapse, hypokalemia, hypoxia, medications, excess caffeine, drug abuse, and myocarditis.
Heart valve disease occurs when the heart valves do not work the way they should. Symptoms of valve disease include shortness of breath, weakness or dizziness, discomfort in your chest, palpitations, swelling of your ankles, feet or abdomen, and rapid weight gain.
A heart murmur is the sound generated when blood flow within the heart is not smooth. Causes of heart murmurs can be functional, congenital, or caused heart valve conditions. Symptoms of a heart murmur may be none, or may include chest pain, shortness of breath, and arm, leg, and ankle swelling. Treatment of a heart murmur depends on the cause.
Endocarditis, a serious infection of one of the four heart valves is caused by growth of bacteria on one of the heart valves; leading to an infected massed called a "vegetation." The infection can be caused by having bacteria in the bloodstream after dental work, colonoscopy, or other similar procedures. Endocarditis symptoms include fever, fatigue, weakness, chills, aching muscles and joints, night sweats, edema in the legs, feet, or abdomen, malaise, shortness of breath and small skin lesions. Treatment for endocarditis is generally aggressive antibiotic treatment.
The heart is a very important organ in the body. It is responsible for continuously pumping oxygen and nutrient-rich blood throughout your body to sustain life. It is a fist-sized muscle that beats (expands and contracts) 100,000 times per day, pumping a total of five or six quarts of blood each minute, or about 2,000 gallons per day.
Endocarditis is a serious
infection of one of the four heart
valves.
What causes endocarditis?
Endocarditis is caused by a growth of bacteria on one of the heart valves, leading to an infected mass called a "vegetation". The infection may be introduced during brief periods of having bacteria in the bloodstream, such as after dental work, colonoscopy, and other similar procedures.
What are the symptoms of endocarditis?
Patients with endocarditis can develop:
fever,
fatigue,
chills,
weakness
aching joints and muscles,
night sweats,
edema (fluid collection) in the leg(s), foot (feet), and abdomen,
malaise,
shortness of breath, and
occasionally, scattered small skin
lesions.
In endocarditis, blood cultures can often detect the bacteria causing
the endoca...