Rehabilitation
The rehabilitation of the cardiovascular system is a broad field in itself. Depending on the underlying disease, different methods are naturally chosen and different goals are pursued. Mitral insufficiency or mitral valve stenosis is generally considered to be a heart valve disease in the field of rehabilitation.
Here, it is recommended to participate in a regular and controlled training program, in which the program is adjusted to the respective pumping function of the cardiac patient. This allows the heart muscles to strengthen and thus gain endurance. In the case of prosthetic mitral valves, prolonged physical exertion should be avoided, as the high pulse rate puts too much strain on the valve. The frequency can also be lowered with medication (below 80 per minute), for example with beta-blockers.
Prophylaxis
The prevention of mitral valve stenosis is largely based on avoiding general risk factors for cardiovascular disease. This means mainly to prevent the secondary causes of mitral valve diseases (heart attack, diabetes…) Here, for example, healthy nutrition is the focus. Unhealthy nutrition can lead to secondary diseases such as diabetes, which increase the risk of suffering from heart disease.
Smoking plays an increasingly important role in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases. The toxic substances in cigarettes cause stiffening and damage to the walls of the blood vessels, thus disrupting the blood flow. Excessive alcohol consumption also damages the blood vessels.
Regular exercise is one of the most effective methods of preventing the secondary causes of mitral valve disease. In order to prevent other diseases such as inflammation of the endocardium and the formation of blood clots, drug prophylaxis is also necessary. These would be for example antibiotics and blood thinners. In a broader sense, blood pressure must also be kept stable with medication, since too high blood pressure could continue to damage the mitral valve and thus also aggravate the clinical picture. Lowering blood pressure also ensures that the heart is sufficiently relieved.
Prognosis
An untreated mitral regurgitation or mitral valve stenosis would certainly lead to premature death. Of course, this is different for each patient, especially because mitral valve disease usually progresses gradually until it becomes clinically apparent. The heart changes functionally and anatomically to adapt to the diseased valve.
As I said, this works differently for each patient, either well or poorly. In patients undergoing surgery, the 8-year survival rate is 89%.The prognosis depends mainly on the pumping capacity of the heart. In patients who had normal pumping function, the 10-year survival rate is approximately 72%, and in patients with impaired pumping function, the 10-year survival rate is 32%. Sudden deaths are relatively rare and have a frequency of about 0.8%.