Mitral Valve Prolapse in Thyroid Patients
The Heart Murmur Connected to Thyroid Disease
Jul 22, 2009
Mitral Valve Prolapse (MVP) is a common and usually benign heart condition (non life threatening), affecting from 5% to 20% of the population. Medical research studies have discovered that thyroid patients have a higher rate of incidence for MVP, especially those with the autoimmune types of thyroid disease. A significant percentage of both Graves’ disease patients (autoimmune hyperthyroid) and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis patients (autoimmune hypothyroid) have been found to be experiencing MVP.
Symptoms and Diagnosis of Mitral Valve Prolapse
Most people who are found to have Mitral Valve Prolapse (MVP) experience few or no symptoms. When symptoms are experienced, they may include mild arrhythmias (skips, flip-flops, rapid beating), breathlessness, fatigue, intolerance to exercise, anxiety symptoms and sensitivity to stimulants (alcohol, caffeine and refined sugar). When symptoms as described do occur, the condition may be referred to as “MVP-Syndrome”. MVP is also referred to as a “click murmur” because it can cause a clicking sound when the heart beats and is sometimes detectable by stethoscope. A more definitive diagnosis of the condition can be made using an echocardiogram, which is a highly sensitive diagnostic test using sound-wave imaging to monitor heart function and to detect abnormalities.
Manifestations of MVP
MVP develops due to an abnormality in the “valve leaflets” that support the mitral valve of the heart. The valve is found on the left-side of the heart, between the upper and lower chambers. Once blood comes into the valve as the heart beats, its normal function is to seal the blood inside, so that it circulates inside the chambers of the heart and is released into the body through the other heart valves. The valve leaflets can become stretched or thickened for reasons yet to be definitively understood, which causes them to buckle and “prolapse” up into the left atrium, rather than completely sealing-off blood that comes into the valve. If the non-sealed area becomes prominent, a more serious condition called “MVP with regurgitation” may occur, meaning blood leaks back out of the valve after it fails to seal completely.
MVP may be an Autoimmune Condition
Medical research conclusions revealing a high incidence of MVP in patients with thyroid autoimmunity have proposed the possibility that MVP itself might be the result of an autoimmune process in the body. The immune system at times will attack organs in the body, once recognizing them as intruders/invaders or foreign tissues. The mitral valve leaflets and/or valves may be the recipients of such an attack but rather than causing total destruction of the valves or the supporting leaflets, it may instead cause the thickening and stretching of them. Heart tissue is very resilient and can in some cases regenerate areas of damaged tissue, such as that occurring following heart attacks. It may be that an autoimmune attack affects the mitral valves and leaflets over time but does not cause significant tissue destruction in most people with the murmur. The smaller percentage of people who do experience blood leakage from the valve (MVP-regurgitation) may have experienced more autoimmune damage. This is a theory at this point and hopefully future studies in this area will continue to find more answers.
Effective treatments for MVP are available through qualified medical professionals.
Medical Research Links
NIH/PubMed – MVP and Autoimmune thyroid disorders
WebMD - MVP and Thyroid Autoimmunity
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