Can Mitral Valve Prolapse heal? - Heart Disorders Message Board

ASDGRMama · 12-14-2005, 02:51 PM

My cousin has this condition. She was diagnosed at the age of 16 based on results from an EKG, 24-hour holter monitoring, an echo and exercise stress test.

She is now 32 and her drs can't "hear" it. They said there is a clicking sound present with MVP and she doesn't have that.

So she's wondering now if MVP can heal. She is obsessive/compulsive and usually takes meds for anxiety (she's breastfeeding her daughter and is off them for now). These disorders can cause heart symptoms but outside of that she has no other symptoms.

Any thoughts or opinions on this?

Love and Prayers, Kelly

starsofglass · 12-15-2005, 03:43 AM

Well, I've been diagnosed with MVP (very mild) and there's no clicking with me, no murmur, not even regurgitation. I doubt the diagnosis though, I've heard that some echos are less accurate, so it might seem like there's MVP but there isn't. Anyway, MVP cannot heal I think, but it can be very mild (and unsymptomatic) and stay so your whole life. If she has very mild MVP, it might explain the absence of the clicking sound. Only an echo can show MVP or lack of it, not a stress test or ekg or holter.
In any case, it's not a health concern at all right now.

tomh · 12-15-2005, 04:44 AM

My wife was dx'd with MVP in her 20's. She read about some false MVP dx's and got rechecked in her 40's. She does not have it. I really don't think that she was cured, but that technology is better.

started04 · 12-15-2005, 09:51 AM

I saw my echo images while taking the test. With an echo/doppler, it will show images in color and in real time the backflow of blood into the atrium if there is MVP. I am not familiar with the capabilities of technology 16 years ago, but I assume there hasn't been any major change in the technology.

Almost always MVP is due to an elongation of the cords that attach the valve leaflets, and there is an incomplete closing of the valve opening with each heartbeat. And/or the papillary muscle where the cords attach to the heart wall is damaged. Requires an operation to correct.

The condition of interest appears to be mild and dorment and no problem.