What is mitral valve disease?
Related Terms: Mitral Valve Disorder, Mitral Valve Malformation, Mitral Dysplasia, Mitral Systolic Murmur The heart consists of 4 chambers – 2 atria and 2 ventricles. The atrioventricular (AV) valves ensure that the blood flows from the atria to the ventricles when the heart beats. A defect in the mitral valve (the left atrioventricular valve) causes backflow of blood into the left atrium, or mitral regurgitation. Less commonly, a narrowing or stenosis of the valve can be identified. Because of the leaky valve, the heart is less efficient at pumping blood to the body. Mitral valve insufficiency is the most common acquired cardiac disease in older dogs, affecting over one third of dogs greater than 10 years of age. In some breeds however, mitral insufficiency develops at a much younger age, due to an inherited predisposition for this disorder. In some breeds, abnormal development (dysplasia) of the valve has been identified in the embryo. How is Mitral Valve Disease Inherited? Although
