Genetics of a heart valve problem

The mitral valve is on the left side of your heart, between the upper and lower chambers. Your heart has four chambers. Two upper chambers and two lower ones. Valves control the flow of blood from the upper to the lower chambers. Valves work like dams. Dams hold water upstream when closed. When we open them, water flows downstream. Dams do not allow water to go back upstream. Heart valves work the same way. Blood flows from the upper to the lower chambers. Once the blood is in the lower chamber, the valve closes. The left side pumps blood with oxygen to the body. When the valve closed, blood starts filling in the top part again. But, sometimes, heart valves do not close right. This could allow the valve to prolapse, or bend backward, into the upper part when the heart pumps. Mitral valve prolapse, or MVP, could allow some of the blood on the left side to leak back into the upper part. This is a heart murmur. About 1 in 40 people have MVP. In most people, it is not life-threatening and does not need treatment. But, in a few cases, MVP can cause serious problems. Sometimes, we can control these problems with medication. Other times, we have to do open heart surgery to repair or replace the valve. Scientists think there is a link between MVP and changes in certain genes. Researchers at Vanderbilt will use BioVU to check for these links. They will also look for other gene changes linked to MVP. The results of this study could help us learn more about how gene changes affect MVP. It might help us learn who could be at risk for MVP. Knowing who is at risk could help us catch the serious problems early. It could also help us find new ways to treat MVP, or maybe even prevent it.