Mitral valve prolapse Mitral valve prolapse is a common abnormality of the heart valves and is the cause of mitral regurgitation. The valve flaps are “soft” and do not close tightly, allowing blood to flow back into your heart. The effect is that blood cannot flow as efficiently through the heart or to the rest of your body, causing you to feel tired and short of breath. History of Mitral Valve Prolapse The disease was first described by John Brereton Barlow in 1966, a world-renowned specialist. South African cardiologist. He was a professor of cardiology at the Johannesburg Hospital Research Unit where he conducted studies on cardiac disorders, discovering the cause of mitral valve disorder, also called Barlow syndrome (Tsung O, Cheng, March 5, 1995). What is mitral valve prolapse? The normal mitral valve controls blood flow between the upper chamber (left atrium) and the lower chamber (left ventricle) on the left side of the heart. The mitral valve allows blood to flow from the left atrium to the left ventricle, but not the other way around. With each heartbeat, the atria contract and push blood into the ventricles. The flaps of the mitral and tricuspid valves open to allow blood to pass through. Then the ventricles contract to pump blood out of the heart. The flaps of the mitral and tricuspid valves close and form a tight seal that prevents blood from flowing backward into the atria (nhlbi.nih.gov). When MVP occurs, the left ventricle contracts, causing one or both flaps of the mitral valve to collapse or bulge (prolapse) into the left atrium, preventing the valve from forming a tight seal. As a result, blood may flow back into the atrium, which is called regurgitation (nhlbi.nih.gov). Symptom...... middle of paper ......accountid=158514Nishimura, RA, & McGoon, MD (1999). Editorial: Perspectives on mitral valve prolapse. The New England Journal of Medicine, 341(1), 48-50. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/223939414?accountid=158514Rezaian, GR and Ali, E. (2001). Mitral valve prolapse in patients with pure rheumatic mitral stenosis: an angiographic study. Angiology, 52(4), 267-71. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/224851069?accountid=158514Wand, O., Prokupetz, A., Grossman, A., and Assa, A. (2011). Natural history of mitral valve prolapse in military aircrew. Cardiology, 118(1), 50-4. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000324313Weyman, AE and Scherrer-Crosbie, M. (2004). Marfan syndrome and mitral valve prolapse. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 114(11), 1543-6. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/200501268?accountid=158514