Early Impairment Left Ventricular Mechanics in Children With Mitral Valve Prolapse

Early impairment of left ventricular (LV) function has been reported in some inherited connective tissue diseases such as Marfan syndrome or rheumatic heart disease in pediatric patients. However, there is no study about cardiac strain in pediatric patients with primary mitral valve prolapse (MVP). The aim of this study was to evaluate the LV functions in pediatric patients with primary MVP, mild or moderate mitral regurgitation (MR), and normal LV ejection fraction. The study group included 72 consecutive patients (40 female, mean age: 13.1 ± 5.2 with primary MVP who had mild or moderate MR, and normal systolic function (LV ejection fraction ≥60%) were compared with 40 healthy children using conventional echocardiography, tissue Doppler imaging, and 2-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography. Patients were divided into subgroups according to the MR severity: mild (n:34), and moderate (n:38) and leaflet thickness: classical (n: 40), and nonclassical (n: 32). The children with MR had significantly lower values for global early diastolic strain rate ([SRe] patients: 1.40 ± 0.25 vs controls: 1.62 ± 0.54; p = 0.001), and E/SRe (patients: 72.7 ± 5.6 vs controls: 62.1 ± 4.9; p <0.04) when compared with the control group. In subgroup analysis, SRe (mild: 1.49 ± 0.38 vs moderate: 1.32 ± 0.31; p <0.001) was lower in MVP patients with moderate MR compared to mild MR, and E/SRe (mild: 69.4 ± 5.1 vs moderate: 75.1 ± 6.4; p <0.001) value was higher in MVP patients with moderate MR compared to mild MR. Diatolic strain parameters, SRe, and E/SRe are more sensitive markers of early subtle myocardial injury in pediatric patients with primary MVP.