Barlow's Syndrome
Barlow’s syndrome, also known as floppy-valve syndrome, mitral valve prolapse or click-murmur syndrome, is a cardiac disorder in which the mitral valve of the heart fails to close properly or balloons out.
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What Causes Mitral Valve Prolapse?
The mitral valve prolapse syndrome has a strong hereditary tendency, although the exact cause is unknown. Affected family members are often tall, thin, with long arms and fingers, and straight backs. It is seen most commonly in women from 20 to 40 years old, but also occurs in men.
Most people who have the condition are born with it. MVP tends to run in families and is more common in people who were born with connective tissue disorders, such as Marfan syndrome.
The mitral valve can be abnormal in two ways. First, the valve flaps may be oversized and thickened. Second, the valve flaps may be "floppy." The tissue of the flaps and their supporting "strings" are too stretchy, and parts of the valve flop or bulge back into the atrium.
Some people's valves are abnormal in both ways. Either way can keep the valve from making a tight seal.
In patients with mitral valve prolapse, the mitral apparatus becomes affected by a process called myxomatous degeneration. In myxomatous degeneration, the structural protein collagen forms abnormally and causes thickening, enlargement, and redundancy of the leaflets and chordae. When the ventricles contract, the redundant leaflets prolapse into the left atrium, sometimes allowing leakage of blood through the valve opening. When severe, mitral regurgitation can lead to heart failure and abnormal heart rhythms.
Most patients are totally unaware of the prolapsing of the mitral valve. Others may experience a number of symptoms discussed below.
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Who Is At Risk for Mitral Valve Prolapse?
Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) occurs in all age groups and in men and women. MVP with complications or severe symptoms most often occurs in men older than 50.
Certain conditions increase the risk for MVP, including:
- • Connective tissue disorders, such as Marfan syndrome
- • Scoliosis and other skeletal problems
- • Some types of muscular dystrophy