Since the heart is our most vital organ when something goes wrong with a valve, surgery is often a solution.

Cardiac surgeon Dr. Brian Hummel says when it comes to your mitral valve there are two ways it usually malfunctions - either by narrowing or leaking.

Patients are often treated with medications. If that doesn't work they can have the option of surgically repairing the defective valve. or replacing it all together. "Ideally we would like to repair the valves.

In cases where we can't actually achieve a good repair, what we think is a good long lasting repair, then we'll replace those valves and put prosthetic valves in those position."

Dr. Hummel says that the patient does have a choice when it comes to replacing the valve. "The two basic types are a tissue valve versus a mechanic valve. And the advantage to a tissue valve is perhaps the patient does not need to be fully treated with the blood thinner Cumadin, and the disadvantage is that that valve is not meant to a long wear and tear valve."

Dr. Hummel also says that whether you need to get a heart valve repaired or replaced the recovery from either type of surgery is about the same, and with new technology on the horizon, the outlook for the future looks even better. "We're developing more minimal techniques to work on the valve and to get a repair and hopefully by doing these more minimal and minimal procedures, hospitalization times will be shortened from the normal 5 to 7 days to maybe perhaps 4 days or 3 days."

It's very common for a mitral valve problem to be discovered during a routine physical because an abnormal heart flow can be heard through the stethoscope.