Mitral valve

Dr Daniel J Bell ◉ and Assoc Prof Craig Hacking ◉ ◈ et al.

The mitral valve (MV) (or bicuspid valve) is one of the four cardiac valves. It is the atrioventricular valve that allows blood to flow from the left atrium to the left ventricle. It opens during diastole and closes during systole. The valve has anterior and posterior leaflets (cusps), the bases of which attach around the AV orifice to a fibrous ring, known as the mitral valve annulus (MVA), forming part of the fibrous skeleton of the heart. The chordae tendineae are thin strong inelastic fibrous cords that extend from the free edge of the cusps to the apices of the papillary muscles within the left ventricle. Both cusps receive chordae tendineae from both papillary muscles. The anterior cusp is thicker and more mobile than the posterior cusp, and in general the cusps of the mitral valve are smaller and thicker than those of the tricuspid valve.

Related pathology

History and etymology

The Latin word mitra refers to a turban used to describe the ceremonial head-dress as worn by Catholic bishops (hence the modern word mitre). The valve was initially described as resembling such a hat.

Quiz questions

References

Anatomy: Thoracic

Anatomy: Thoracic

thoracic skeleton
- thoracic cage
  - ribs
    - typical ribs
    - atypical ribs
    - variant anatomy
  - costal cartilage
  - sternum
- thoracic spine
- articulations
muscles of the thorax
spaces of the thorax
thoracic viscera
- tracheobronchial tree
  - trachea
- lungs
- heart
  - cardiac chambers
  - heart valves
  - pectinate muscles
  - cardiac fibrous skeleton
    - aortic annulus
  - coronary arteries
    - coronary arterial dominance
    - myocardial segments
    - left main coronary artery (LMCA)
      - ramus intermedius artery (RI)
      - circumflex artery (LCx)
        
        obtuse marginal branches (OM1, OM2, etc))
        
        Kugel's artery
      - left anterior descending artery (LAD)
        
        diagonal branches (D1, D2, etc)
        
        septal perforators (S1, S2, etc)
    - right coronary artery (RCA)
      - conus artery
      - sinoatrial nodal artery
      - acute marginal branches (AM1, AM2, etc)
      - inferior interventricular artery (PDA)
      - posterior left ventricular artery (PLV)
    - congenital anomalies
  - innervation of the heart
  - fetal circulation
    - foramen ovale
  - atrial septum
    - fossa ovale
  - endocardium
  - myocardium
  - pericardium
    - epicardium
    - epicardial fat pad
    - pericardial space
      - oblique pericardial sinus
      - transverse pericardial sinus
      - pericardial recesses
        
        aortic recesses
        
        superior aortic recess
        
        inferior aortic recess
        
        pulmonic recesses
        
        right pulmonic recess
        
        left pulmonic recess
        
        postcaval recess
        
        pulmonary venous recesses
        
        right pulmonary venous recess
        
        left pulmonary venous recess
    - pericardial ligaments
- esophagus
  - Zenker diverticulum
  - Killian-Jamieson diverticulum
- thymus
  - retrocaval thymus
- breast
  - nipple-areola complex
  - terminal ductal lobular unit
  - axillary tail
    - foramen of Langer
  - mammary fat
  - Montgomery glands
    - Montgomery tubercles
  - Cooper ligaments
    - crests of Duret
  - retromammary space (Chassaignac bursa)
  - lymphatic drainage
    - Sappey plexus
    - intramammary lymph nodes
  - variants
    - supranumerary nipple (polythelia)
    - accessory breast tissue (polymastia)
    - breast hypoplasia
    - amastia
    - amazia
blood supply of the thorax
- arteries
  - thoracic aorta (development)
  - pulmonary trunk
    - left pulmonary artery
      - aberrant left pulmonary artery
    - right pulmonary artery
- veins
  - superior vena cava (SVC)
    - superior cavoatrial junction
    - variant anatomy
  - inferior vena cava (IVC)
    - inferior cavoatrial junction
  - coronary veins
    - cardiac veins which drain into the coronary sinus
      - great cardiac vein
      - middle cardiac vein
      - small cardiac vein
      - posterior vein of the left ventricle
      - vein of Marshall (oblique vein of the left atrium)
    - anterior cardiac veins
    - venae cordis minimae (smallest cardiac veins or thebesian veins)
  - pulmonary veins
    - bronchial veins
  - thoracoepigastric vein
lymphatics
innervation of the thorax

Article information

rID: 49558

System: Cardiac

Section: Anatomy

Synonyms or Alternate Spellings:

Bicuspid valves
Mitral valves (MVs)
Mitral valve (MV)
Bicuspid valve

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Cases and figures

Figure 1: sectional cardiac anatomy (creative commons illustration)Figure 1: sectional cardiac anatomy (creative commons illustration)

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