Mitral valve prolapse in young Israelis with thromboembolic brain disease

In order to establish the association between mitral valve prolapse (MVP) and the incidence of thromboembolic disease of the brain we reassessed 36 patients (less than or equal to 50 years old) who were hospitalized during 1983-85 because of cerebrovascular accidents. The patients underwent complete physical and neurological examinations, blood tests including coagulogram and two-dimensional echocardiogram. The control group comprised 117 patients without cerebrovascular events. In the study group, 4 patients (11.1%) had MVP compared with 10 (8.5%) in the control group. Of these four, only one male did not have any risk factor for thromboembolic event; among the other three the risk factors were systemic lupus erythematosus, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, hypertension and pregnancy. We conclude that our results are in accordance with most of the literature that MVP is not a risk factor for thromboembolic disease except in Greek and Italian populations, which are ethnically more homogeneous than other Western societies studied.