1 Mitral Valve Prolapse:<br > Diagnosis and<br > Management<br > Lynda J. Davidson<br > In mitral valve prolapse (MVP) the well-informed nurse can play an im-<br >portant role in detecting the disease as well as in treating and educating the<br >patient. This chapter describes the valvular pathology， etiology， and symptoms<br >of MVP and the auscultatory， electrocardiographic， and echocardiographic<br >features often seen with this syndrome. Complications， treatment， and nursing<br >implications are also discussed.<br > HISTORY<br > Depite the fact that MVP has been considered a clinical syndrome for less<br >than 20 years， the auscultatory findings were first noted in 1887.~ At the time<br >the sounds were attributed to extracardiac pleuropericardial adhesions.2 3 In<br >，1961 Reid suggested that the sounds originated in the mitral valve，4 and later<br >Baflow and associates demonstrated the association of clicks， late systolic<br >murmurs， and electrocardiographic abnormalities with angiographic MVP.5<br >Sincethen the syndrome has been referred to by several different names (Table<br >1-1).<br > PATHOLOGY<br > Situated between the left atrium and left ventricle， the mitral valve is a<br >bicuspid valve with a small triangular anterior leaflet. The posterior leaflet，<br >