[Mitral valve prolapse, arrhythmias and sudden death]

Some of the classical concepts of mitral valve prolapse (MVP) should be reviewed in the light of recent publications. It is a condition, according to strict echocardiographic criteria excluding near physiological abnormalities, which affects 2 to 3% of the adult population in the industrialised world. Only repetitive atrial arrhythmias and complex ventricular arrhythmias are more common in this condition than in control groups, the differences being more pronounced in cases of mitral regurgitation. The risk of syncope or sudden death is 0.1% per year, hardly any different to that of the rest of the general adult population (0.2%). However, this risk may attain 0.9 to 2% in cases with mitral regurgitation. The causes of sudden death are unclear (haemodynamic, neurohumoral, arrhythmic, etc...), although there is evidence in favour of malignant ventricular arrhythmias. Detailed clinical, electrophysiological, isotopic and anatomopathological studies have raised doubts as to the direct responsibility of the vascular malformation (or its eventual consequences on the atrial and ventricular chambers) in this mode of fatal outcome. On the other hand, localised or diffuse myocardial disease is often observed, usually a- or pauci-symptomatic, associated with MVP, the responsibility of which is more plausible. Therefore, the physician should adopt a flexible attitude towards these patients, reassuring those with benign symptoms at low risk and following up or actively treating the rarer malignant forms (especially familial, syncopal with mitral regurgitation and/or severe arrhythmias).