What can acute MR cause?

What can acute MR cause?

• A. LA pressure overload
• B. Right ventricular hypertrophy
• C. Systemic hypertension
• D. Constrictive pericarditis

Answer: (A)

Acute mitral regurgitation causes a sudden backflow of blood into the left atrium during systole. Because the left atrium hasn’t had time to dilate or adapt quickly, this regurgitant volume raises left atrial pressure abruptly — an LA pressure overload. That abrupt pressure rise leads to pulmonary venous congestion and can cause pulmonary edema and hemodynamic instability. In contrast, chronic MR tends to produce left atrial and LV dilation from volume overload rather than a rapid increase in pressure. The other options don’t fit as direct consequences of acute MR: right ventricular hypertrophy is more about sustained pulmonary hypertension or right-sided disease; systemic hypertension is a broad afterload issue not triggered specifically by MR; constrictive pericarditis is a pericardial constraint syndrome with different filling dynamics.

Acute mitral regurgitation causes a sudden backflow of blood into the left atrium during systole. Because the left atrium hasn’t had time to dilate or adapt quickly, this regurgitant volume raises left atrial pressure abruptly — an LA pressure overload. That abrupt pressure rise leads to pulmonary venous congestion and can cause pulmonary edema and hemodynamic instability. In contrast, chronic MR tends to produce left atrial and LV dilation from volume overload rather than a rapid increase in pressure.

The other options don’t fit as direct consequences of acute MR: right ventricular hypertrophy is more about sustained pulmonary hypertension or right-sided disease; systemic hypertension is a broad afterload issue not triggered specifically by MR; constrictive pericarditis is a pericardial constraint syndrome with different filling dynamics.