Valvular Heart Disease Flashcards
What is the annulus?
The base of a heart valve that supports the valve’s leaflets is called the annulus
What is rheumatic heart disease?
Disease of the heart that results from rheumatic fever and is characterized by inflamamtion of the myocardium and resultant reduced functional capacity of the heart and scarring of the valves.
What are the possible ways mitral stenosis can arise?
SLE - Autoimmune disease - when internal organs are involved, the condition is called systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
Congenital mitral stenosis
Rheumatic heart disease
Rheumatoid arthritis
What is mild mitral stenosis defined as?
When the valve orifice is less than 2 cm
What are the changes in pressure when there is an onset of mitral stenosis?
The pressure difference between left atrium and left ventricle increases.
Left atrial pressure increases
Pulmonary venous capillary pressure increases
Pulmonary hypertension develops
How do you determine the mitral tenosis severity?
Trans-valvar pressure gradient and transvalvar flow rate (cardiac output and heart rate)
How does a reduces transvalvar flow rate manifest itself?
Tachycardia:
- Exercise
- Acute illness
- Pregnancy
- Atrial fibrillation
What are the clinical manifestations of Mitral stenosis?
- Dyspnoea: mild exertional to pulmonary oedema
- Haemoptisis: rupture of thin-walled veins
•Systemic embolisation: LA and Left atrial appendage (a small, ear-shaped sac in the muscle wall of the left atrium) enlargement
- IE – Infective endocarditis
- Chest pain
- Hoarseness (compression of the L recurrent laryngeal nerve)
- Mitral facies – we don’t know why
- Pulse – normal
- JVP – prominent a wave
- Tapping apex beat and diastolic thrill
- RV heave
What are the likely heart sounds of mitral stenosis?
Left ventricle is normal so heart rate is normal – first heart sound is normal – systole. More severe stenosis – third heart sound. At the end of diastole
Look at the ECG for mitral stenosis
What would a chest X-Ray of mitral stenosis tell you?
Left atrial enlargement
What are the possible investgations for Mitral Stenosis?
X-Ray
Echocardiography
MRI
How can you tell a patient is suffering from mitral stenosis from echocardiography?
- Thickening and scarring of the leaflets
- Fusion of the commissures (line of adjacent heart valves)
What is treatment from Mitral Stenosis
Diuretics and restriction of sodium intake
Atrial Fibrilation - •Sinus rhythm restoration or ventricular rate control
•Anticoagulation: all those with AF, debatable in SR
Intervention treatment:
- Valvotomy (balloon vs surgical) A balloon valvotomy is the preferred treatment for mitral valve stenosis. It is a procedure that widens the mitral valve so that blood flows more easily through the heart.
- MVR - Mitral valve replacement is a cardiac surgical procedure in which a patient’s diseased mitral valve is replaced by either a mechanical or bioprosthetic valve.
What are the common causes of mitral regurgitation?
- Rheumatic Heart Disease – most common reason for mitral incompetence
- Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) – degenerative condition mostly in men (manifests in 4/5 th decade in life – chordae tendonae breaks?
- IE
- Degenerative
- Functional MR due to LV and annular dilatation
Describe the changes to the annulus and the regurgitant volume in mitral regurgitation?
Annular enlargement and regurgitant volume increases
How does end systolic volume change from an acute to a chronic scenario?
End systolic volume in acute scenaria is reduced (reduced end systolic pressure and also reduced wall tension)
Chronic ESV returns to normal and end diastolic volume increases
What happens to the left ventricle in mitral regurgitation?
Left ventricular hypertrophy
What are the features of reduced LA compliance in mitral regurgitation?
Marked pressure rise
Thickening of the atrial myocardium
Increase in the pulmonary vascular resistance and remodelling of the pulmonary vasculature with Pulmonary hypertension
What are the features of increased left atrial copmliance in mitral regurgitation?
•marked volume enlargement, lesser changes in pulmonary vasculature, but develop AF
What are the clinical manifestations of acute mitral regurgitation?
•Breathlessness: pulmonary oedema, cardiogenick shock