Cardiac Conditions Archives

Myxomatous Mitral Valve

My wife was diagnosed with Graves about 15 years ago during her pregancy with our 14 year old son. Her thryoid was removed and at that time they also said she had MVP. Not much was said about it other than taking antibiotics before dental procedures. Well early in October on a normal night in our house, without warning, my wife passed away at the age of 38. She was in perfect health except for the thryoid and MVP. I received the autopsy report yesterday and it listed Congestive heart Failure as the cause of death caused by Myxomatous condition of the mitral valve. I would love for someone to explain to me how this could have happened and how did the valve get in this condition? Are there any warning signs? What did we miss? Could this have been avoided or treated? Please respond, desparate for answers. Thanks!!!

Follow Ups:

• Re: Myxomatous Mitral Valve (Archive in cardiac conditions.) Walt Stoll 07:57:50 11/21/02 (0)
• Re: Myxomatous Mitral Valve Lincoln 16:31:43 11/20/02 (0)

In Reply to: Myxomatous Mitral Valve posted by Mark Pipper on November 20, 2002 at 15:03:53:

Read this:
http://www.thyrolink.com/literature/report1998_4/seite17.html

Also note this quote from Walt Stoll:
"NO conventional clinician would EVER call any of the legitimate mitral valve lesions MVP. Examples of conditions that are not MVP: Rheumatic Valvular Insufficiency or Stenosis and Myxomatous Mitral Valvular insufficiency. "

From another source:
"Myxomatous valve degeneration (MVD) is also known in the veterinary literature as endocardiosis, chronic degenerative valvular disease, chronic valvular disease, chronic valvular fibrosis, and simply as acquired mitral or tricuspid regurgitation/insufficiency. In human medicine this disease is commonly called mitral valve prolapse as this anatomical change in the valve (discussed below) is a common sequel. These are misnomers or incomplete definitions...Mitral valve prolapse only describes one manifestation of the disease [Myxomatous Atrioventricular Valvular Degeneration]"

• MYXOMATOUS ATRIOVENTRICULAR VALVULAR DEGENERATION

In Reply to: Myxomatous Mitral Valve posted by Mark Pipper on November 20, 2002 at 15:03:53:

Hi, Mark.

I mourn your loss and that of your son.

Of course you already know that this was not what has been so loosely termed MVP! Listen to Lincoln.

For her to have died suddenly from CHF, she would have to had many months of progressive cardiac symptoms which should have been noted by her doc.

Surgical replacement of the valve (once those symptoms began) would have prevented any CHF and she would still be with you.

What symptoms was she having?

Walt