The mitral valve is the valve on the left side of the heart that separates the atrium from the ventricle. Sometimes this valve is damaged, due to such things as birth defects, rheumatic fever, untreated high blood pressure or even heart attack. If the damage to the valve is mild, an individual can live for many years without much problem. Damage to the mitral valve usually progresses slowly.
When there is severe damage to the mitral valve, it is wise to consider minimally invasive heart surgery to repair the mitral valve before serious complications can occur. One of the serious complications that can happen with a damaged valve is endocarditis.
Endocarditis is an infection heart’s inner layer. It usually impacts the heart’s valves. A valve that is damaged has a greater risk of infection than a non-damaged valve. This type of infection is called infective endocarditis and most often occurs where there are damaged valves. You contract this type of endocarditis through a bacterial infection elsewhere in your body that has traveled to the heart. Other types of endocarditis are known as non-infective endocarditis and are most often found on valves that are not damaged.
Infective endocarditis attaches itself to the damaged valve, which becomes its host. Once the infection is there, it is difficult to fight. Since the valves do not receive a blood supply directly, they cannot receive the benefits of the immune system from white blood cells. Moreover, the treatment of endocarditis with antibiotics is not very effective, again because the valves to not receive a supply of blood to themselves.
If you have severe mitral valve damage, be sure to consult with your cardiologist regularly. He or she will help you know what actions you should take to protect your heart. Getting severe mitral valve damage repaired through minimally invasive heart surgery will help reduce the risk of endocarditis.