Mitral stenosis

Mitral stenosis
Mitral stenosis with marked thickening of the leaflets and left atrial hypertrophy. Superior view. Autopsy preparation.
Specialty	Cardiology
Symptoms	dyspnea on exertion, orthopnea and paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea Palpitations Chest pain Hemoptysis Ascites, edema and hepatomegaly Late Stage: Thromboembolism
Causes	rheumatic fever, rheumatic heart disease
Diagnostic method	Physical Examination, Chest X-ray, Echocardiography, Electrocardiography
Treatment	Mitral valve replacement, mitral valvuloplasty

Mitral stenosis is a valvular heart disease characterized by the narrowing of the opening of the mitral valve of the heart.^[1] It is almost always caused by rheumatic valvular heart disease. Normally, the mitral valve is about 5 cm² during diastole. Any decrease in area below 2 cm² causes mitral stenosis. Early diagnosis of mitral stenosis in pregnancy is very important as the heart cannot tolerate increased cardiac output demand as in the case of exercise and pregnancy. Atrial fibrillation is a common complication of resulting left atrial enlargement, which can lead to systemic thromboembolic complications such as stroke.^[2]