Mitral valve stenosis the pressures in the left atrium and the left ventricle during ventricular diastole will be equal. The result is that the left ventricle gets filled with blood during early ventricular diastole, with only a small portion of extra blood contributed by contraction of the left atrium (the "atrial kick") during late ventricular diastole. When the mitral valve area goes below 2 cm, the valve causes an impediment to the flow of blood into the left ventricle, creating a pressure gradient across the mitral valve. This gradient may be increased by increases in the heart rate or cardiac output. As the
Mitral insufficiency mitral valve prolapse or atrial fibrillation. In general, medical therapy is non-curative and is used for mild-to-moderate regurgitation or in patients unable to tolerate surgery. Surgery is curative of mitral valve regurgitation. There are two surgical options for the treatment of MI: mitral valve replacement and mitral valve repair. Mitral valve repair is preferred to mitral valve replacement where a repair is feasible as bioprosthetic replacement valves have a limited lifespan of 10 to 15 years, whereas synthetic replacement valves require ongoing use of blood thinners to reduce the risk of stroke. There are two general categories of approaches to