Home > Heart Surgery Blog > Mitral Regurgitation > "What About Mitral Valve Calcification?" Asks Kara

"What About Mitral Valve Calcification?" Asks Kara

Written By: Adam Pick, Patient Advocate, Author & Website Founder
Page Last Updated: May 11, 2025

As many of you know, I had a congenital birth defect known as a bicuspid aortic valve. After thirty-three years of opening and closing, my two-cusp aortic valve became incredibly diseased with aortic stenosis and regurgitation. Ultimately, I had aortic valve replacement and pulmonary valve replacement. Following surgery, Dr. Vaughn Starnes (my surgeon) informed me that my aortic valve was very calcified as well.

That said, I just received an interesting question about mitral valve disease from Kara. Unlike most questions that focus on mitral valve prolapse and mitral valve regurgitation, this question focused on mitral valve calcification.

Calcium Deposits On Ring Of Mitral Valve Annulus

Kara's question reads, "Can you tell me about mitral valve calcification? Do you have any pictures of a calcified mitral valve? What are the symptoms? What is the treatment of mitral valve calcification?"

As you can see above, calcification can impact mitral valves just as it can impact other heart valves. This picture illustrates the build-up of calcium along the annulus of the mitral valve. Ultimately, that impacts the integrity of the mitral valve to open and close properly. My research indicates that most symptoms of mitral valve calcification are similar to the symptoms of other forms of valve disease.

As for treatment of mitral valve calcification, that will be determined by your cardiologist and/or your surgeon. Primarily, there are two forms of surgical, mitral valve treatment - mitral valve replacement and mitral valve repair.

Written by Adam Pick - Patient & Website Founder

Adam Pick is a heart valve patient and author of The Patient's Guide To Heart Valve Surgery. In 2006, Adam founded HeartValveSurgery.com to educate and empower patients. This award-winning website has helped over 10 million people fight heart valve disease. Adam has been featured by the American Heart Association and Medical News Today.

Follow 450K