Mitral valve stenosis as Swan-Ganz catheterization) gives the physician the mean pulmonary capillary wedge pressure, which is a reflection of the left atrial pressure. The left heart catheterization, on the other hand, gives the pressure in the left ventricle. By simultaneously taking these pressures, it is possible to determine the gradient between the left atrium and left ventricle during ventricular diastole, which is a marker for the severity of mitral stenosis. This method of evaluating mitral stenosis tends to overestimate the degree of mitral stenosis, however, because of the time lag in the pressure tracings seen on the right-heart catheterization and the slow
Mitral insufficiency MR and mitral valve prolapse are also common in Ehlers–Danlos syndromes. Secondary mitral insufficiency is due to the dilatation of the left ventricle that causes stretching of the mitral valve annulus and displacement of the papillary muscles. This dilatation of the left ventricle can be due to any cause of dilated cardiomyopathy including aortic insufficiency, nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy, and Noncompaction cardiomyopathy. Because the papillary muscles, chordae, and valve leaflets are usually normal in such conditions, it is also called functional mitral insufficiency. Acute MR is most often caused by endocarditis, mainly "S. aureus". Rupture or dysfunction of the papillary muscle