[Mitral valve prolapse and infective endocarditis]

The data from patients with mitral valve prolapse and infective endocarditis were analysed. Twenty-one patients were found, including 13 males and 8 females, with a mean age of 32 years old (range 9 to 61 years). They accounted for 23% of all patients with infective endocarditis, and 48% of those with mitral valve endocarditis diagnosed in our hospital between Jan, 1984 to Dec, 1996. The clinical features were indistinct onset, high incidence of serious complications such as cardiac failure and emboli to large vessels, especially cerebral vessel. Echocardiography played an important role in the diagnosis of the disease.