[Incidence of sudden heart arrest in mitral valve prolapse syndrome]

Among 1500 consecutive forensic autopsy cases 4 cases of sudden cardiac death due to a mitral valve prolapse syndrome could be found. Postmortem diagnosis depends on severe macroskopic changes of the valve leaflets. According to literature there is no increased risk of sudden cardiac death in cases of "silent" mitral valve prolapse. Only in 2%-4% of all cases severe mitral regurgitation or leaflet thickening above 5 mm leads to an increased incidence of sudden cardiac death. The 4 presented cases belong to this subgroup.