I just received a question from Laura which asks, "My mom was recently diagnosed with a mitral valve regurgitation problem. During her discussion with the cardiologist, he said that her valve flaps were not closing tightly and causing a leak. What exactly does this mean?"

One of the most popular forms of heart valve disease is mitral valve regurgitation. In fact, reports suggest that the mitral valve is the most commonly operated on heart valve.

Yesterday, I spoke with a patient who asked me, "Are cysts in the mitral valve common? Do they require surgery to be removed?"

I just received a follow-up question from Dave regarding my earlier blog about heart valve prolapse. The question reads, "Do you have a better mitral valve prolapse diagram? I still don't understand the physical problems with a prolapse."

My inbox is filling up with some very interesting questions. I just received a question that reads, "Is stress a symptom of mitral valve leakage?"

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.

I just received an email asking, "What is the number of mitral valves in the heart?"

Hey everyone,

As I remember...

There are a number of symptoms for mitral valve prolapse as I have written about in a prior blog. However, I just received a patient email asking, "Can you have back pain with mitral valve prolapse?"