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Published on: October 16, 2021
Prevalence of mitral valvar prolapse in young athletes
Absalom D Hepner1, Holly Morrell, Seaneen Greaves
1University of California, Irvine Medical Center, Orange, California, USA.
Background:
The prevalence of mitral valvar prolapse has been reported to be between 0.6 and 21%. The goal of our study was to evaluate its prevalence in young athletes who underwent hand-held echocardiography as a screening mostly in southern California.
Methods:
We retrospectively analyzed 1742 echocardiograms that were performed as a part of a cardiac screening of teenage athletes. The total prevalence of mitral valvar prolapse was calculated and stratified based on gender.
Results:
We screened a total of 1172 male and 570 female high school athletes. The echocardiographic prevalence of mitral valvar prolapse was 0.9%. The prevalence was similar in both genders, at 1.2% in male and 0.7% in female athletes.
Conclusion:
The prevalence of mitral valvar prolapse in young athletes mostly in southern California was found to be less than 1%, and was similar in both genders.
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