Mitral Valve - Acquired Diseases

Diseases that affect the mitral valve usually result in insufficiency, stenosis or mixed lesions.

The mechanisms that produce valvular disease can involve:
1. The valve leaflets
2. The valvular apparatus (chordae tendineae)
3. The papillary muscles
4. The valvular fibrous annulus.

Among the common acquired diseases of the mitral valve are mitral valve prolapse (or myxomatous degeneration or floppy mitral valve disease), rheumatic disease and mitral annular calcification and infective endocarditis. The prevalence of these condition varies in different regions of the world. Other condition that affect the mitral valve include, annular dilatation secondary to ischemic injury to the ventricles, rupture of papillary muscles.