Blood flows from the lungs, where it picks up oxygen, and into the heart through the mitral valve. When it opens, the mitral valve allows blood to flow into the heart's main pumping chamber called the left ventricle. It has two flaps, or leaflets. The mitral valve is highlighted on this illustration of a heart.
Blood flows from the lungs, where it picks up oxygen, and into the heart through the mitral valve.
In rare instances the mitral valve can be destroyed by infection or a bacterial endocarditis . It has two flaps, or leaflets. Occasionally, however, the valve can be repaired rather than replaced. One type of repair is a procedure called mitral commisurotomy . Most often today, rheumatic mitral stenosis is treated by balloon valvuloplasty , a procedure performed in the cardiac catheterization laboratory by interventional cardiologists .