In fact, there are many heart defects. Some of them are congenital and appear during the embryonic development of the child. Others, acquired, appear as a result of certain diseases. The most common are problems with heart valves, which systematize normal blood circulation.
Mitral heart disease: causes . Mitral stenosis is a fairly common disease, the cause of which in most cases is previously transferred rheumatism. Unfortunately, cases have become more and more frequent when rheumatism in the human body proceeds secretly, without causing any characteristic signs - neither temperature, nor pain in the joints. As a result of this process, the mitral valve located in the left atrium and left ventricle narrows and coalesces.
In this case, blood from the left atrium swings through a significantly narrowed opening. For some time, the patient himself does not even suspect that he already has a heart defect. The fact is that the human heart has enormous compensatory abilities and can work for some time due to the increased load.
Unfortunately, the left atrium is a rather weak part of the heart muscle and its compensatory abilities are not so great. Over time, the patient begins to develop all signs of heart failure, while the blood pumped by this part of the heart begins to stagnate in the pulmonary vessels. In addition, as a result of a strong extension of the atrium, blood clots can form in the parietal space, which is dangerous for all organs of the human body. By the way, it is this heart disease that sometimes causes the so-called atrial fibrillation.
Mitral heart disease: signs . In the event that this heart defect has not yet developed too much, a sick person may feel relatively well. But over time, he begins to notice the appearance of a strong shortness of breath during a quite familiar job with which there have never been problems. In the future, the patient begins to weaken, suffers from bouts of dizziness, often faints.
Patients, as a rule, speak of an increased and severe heartbeat. Coughing begins, sometimes with blood secretions.
Such a heart defect also has characteristic external signs, which are of great importance during medical diagnosis. For example, the lips, tip of the nose and earlobes become bluish. Some cyanosis can be seen in the blush on the cheeks.
Mitral stenosis and methods of its treatment . In this case, the correct diagnosis is also very important, for which the results of various studies are used. For example, quite often, patients are prescribed an ultrasound scan of the heart, as well as a phonocardiogram, which allows you to record the sound vibrations of the heart muscle.
As a rule, treatment of stenosis is carried out conservatively and only the attending physician can prescribe any drugs.
In some cases, surgery is also appropriate. For example, with isolated stenosis, an operation can be performed during which the surgeon will independently disconnect those valve walls that have grown together.
In addition, a sick person must lead a correct lifestyle. For example, he is prohibited from strong physical or emotional stress. Such people should not work at low temperatures.
As for the prognosis for such a disease, the risk of death remains for such a person for life. The fact is that no one can rule out repeated attacks of rheumatism, which significantly exacerbate the situation. That is why the correct and timely treatment is so important that it can relieve an exacerbation for a while.