Barlow Syndrome

Barlow syndrome is also known as mitral valve prolapse.
This is a condition that affects the heart valve that separates the left atrium from the left ventricle. Normally, it is a slight anatomical defect that leads to a small backward movement of blood from the ventricle to the atrium when the first contracts.

Heart physiology

The heart is the muscle that is responsible for continuously circulating blood through the veins and arteries.
It does this with both oxygen-rich and carbon dioxide-rich blood.

In the case of mammals, this organ consists of:

• Four cameras. Two atria (the upper chambers) and two ventricles (the lower chambers).
• Four valves. Two of them, the mitral valve and the tricuspid valve, physically separate the atria from the ventricles and prevent blood from backing up from ventricle to atrium when the former contracts.

The remaining two, the pulmonary valve and the aortic valve, are located at the entrance to the vessels connected to the ventricles. These glasses are:

• The pulmonary artery: it is connected to the right ventricle. It is also the one that conducts non-oxygenated blood to the lungs
• The aorta artery: it connects to the left ventricle. It is responsible for conducting oxygen-rich blood to all cells of the body.

The mitral valve closes when the muscles of the left ventricle contract. This can prevent a stream of blood from returning to the left atrium when the heart pumps blood to the rest of the body.

In people with mitral valve prolapse, small amounts of blood back up into the left atrium. This is due to a small valve deformity that prevents the passage from the ventricle to the atrium from closing properly.

Symptoms associated with Barlow syndrome

Barlow syndrome is diagnosed when the doctor, during a routine checkup, hears a specific noise in the heart pumping. This noise is called a systolic murmur.
Sometimes a two-dimensional echocardiogram is done to verify the diagnosis. This technique provides the specialist with two-dimensional images of the heart. Thanks to these images, any anatomical defect of the valves can be appreciated.

Usually the impact of this deformity on the overall ability of the heart to pump blood is minimal. In fact, most patients with Barlow syndrome do not have any symptoms and can lead a normal life.

However, this defect, over the years, can lead to major complications. If the deformity develops and becomes pronounced, the backflow of blood can be so intense that it can cause a feeling of suffocation. This is due to a decrease in the heart’s ability to pump oxygen-rich blood. This problem is called mitral regurgitation.

Also, these people may experience other symptoms such as:

• Cough.
• Fatigue.
• Swelling in the legs
• Sensation of perceiving the heartbeat (palpitations).
• Chest pain (not caused by coronary artery disease or heart attack).
• Difficulty breathing after activity.
• Shortness of breath when lying down (orthopnea).

Problems generated by this disease

On the other hand, patients with any type of valve disease are more likely to develop endocarditis. This disease is an inflammation of the heart that affects its proper functioning.

For this disease to occur, two circumstances must exist:

• That there is a previous heart disease.
• That a microorganism gets access to the blood supply.

People with anatomical defects in the mitral valve already meet the first requirement. This increases your chances of developing this condition.

Sometimes patients with Barlow syndrome experience heart rate disorders called arrhythmias.

To understand this, we must first explain the following:

• E l heart rate depends on electrical impulses triggered by the natural pacemaker of the heart, the sinus node.
• When it presents some type of dysfunction, errors occur, causing the heart rate to decrease (bradycardia) or increase (tachycardia) for no apparent reason.

Except for the most serious cases, arrhythmias usually do not require medical treatment. Despite this, certain episodes of arrhythmias can have fatal consequences. If the heart adopts a tachycardic rhythm, the sinus node can try to correct the error by decreasing the frequency of the nerve impulses. Sometimes this happens so abruptly that cardiac arrest can be briefly entered. This could lead to a sharp drop in blood pressure leading to fainting.

Origin of mitral valve prolapse

There are two types of mitral valve prolapse depending on the cause that originates it. Following the data of a study published in October of this year by a team of Dutch scientists:

• The primary or nonsyndromic is present in 2.4% of the population. Its prevalence is higher in middle-aged women
• Meanwhile, the secondary or syndromic, associated with defects in the manufacture of connective tissue, is much more unusual.

This condition is generally considered idiopathic, that is, of unknown cause. However, despite the lack of scientific data to support this hypothesis, many specialists suspect that in a small number of patients this valve disease may be the consequence of a genetic abnormality.

An example of a genetic abnormality that can cause anatomical defects is a mutation in genes associated with the production of collagen (a type of connective tissue). Another piece of information that supports this hypothesis is that mitral valve prolapse repeatedly affects several members of the same family.

Barlow syndrome has also been associated with rheumatic heart disease. This pathology is a complication of a rare throat infection, caused by bacteria of the genus Streptococcus .