[Sudden death in mitral valve prolapse]

The authors describe a case of sudden death (SD) of a patient with unaltered coronary arteries, myxomatous degeneration and mitral valve prolapse (MVP). The case was marked by an isolated prolapse of the anterior cusp of the mitral valve because of its congenital structural abnormalities, which was not encountered previously in MVP patients who died suddenly. Microscopic examination showed large-focal cardiosclerosis at the basis of the papillary muscles determined by dysfunction of the mitral apparatus which might be related to the pathogenesis of lethal arrhythmia. It is believed that MVP patients should constitute a separate group with high risk of SD.