Mitral valve stenosis gradient across the mitral valve increases, the amount of time necessary to fill the left ventricle with blood increases. Eventually, the left ventricle requires the atrial kick to fill with blood. As the heart rate increases, the amount of time that the ventricle is in diastole and can fill up with blood (called the diastolic filling period) decreases. When the heart rate goes above a certain point, the diastolic filling period is insufficient to fill the ventricle with blood and pressure builds up in the left atrium, leading to pulmonary congestion. When the mitral valve area goes less than 1
Mitral valve repair left atrium or lungs when the ventricle contracts (squeezes) to push blood out to the body. It has two flaps, or leaflets, known as cusps. The techniques of mitral valve repair include inserting a cloth-covered ring around the valve to bring the leaflets into contact with each other (annuloplasty), removal of redundant/loose segments of the leaflets (quadrangular resection), and re-suspension of the leaflets with artificial (Gore-Tex) cords. Procedures on the mitral valve usually require a median sternotomy, but advances in non-invasive methods (such as keyhole surgery) allow surgery without a sternotomy (and resulting pain and scar). Minimally invasive mitral valve