The mitral valve prolapse epidemic: fact or fiction

In spite of two decades of research, the precise relationship of anatomic mitral valve prolapse (floppy valve) to the neuroendocrine disorder (MVP syndrome) remains unclear. In all likelihood they are two separate genetic disorders which travel together in some fashion. Mitral valve prolapse is a common disorder but progressive mitral regurgitation usually occurs late in life and in only a few patients. Other complications such as bacterial endocarditis, stroke, and sudden death are far less common but can occur at younger ages. The neuroendocrine syndrome in civilian life is mainly seen in young females (interestingly the peak incidence years correspond to peak female sex hormone output) but can be seen in males when subjected to unusual stress such as military service. More recent echocardiographic studies have questioned whether all prolapsing valves are truly abnormal. It has been shown that echographic prolapse can be produced in normal subjects by reducing venous return and impaired venous return may be present in some patients with the MVP syndrome. However, clicks and murmurs are apparently not heard when normal valves prolapse. It is our opinion that the presence of a click or typical murmur requires some anatomic abnormality of the mitral valve. One wonders if minimal valve abnormality (noted and dismissed by Davies) is the valve abnormality present in many young females with MVP syndrome, and that it may remain a mild abnormality throughout life. Recent psychiatric studies suggest that MVP is present in 30% of patients with Panic Disorder. It is not clear that this psychiatric syndrome is the same thing as the MVP syndrome. In Devereux's study, anxiety proneness was no different in the MVP cohort than in relatives without MVP. It is possible that diagnostic mixing of two similar but separate disorders has occurred, as has been the case since World War I. Perhaps the most important question is whether young patients with MVP syndrome and no echocardiographic criteria for "floppiness" will develop progressive mitral regurgitation or other complications in later life. In other words, how often is MVP syndrome in a young individual without echocardiographic evidence of a floppy valve a precourser to eventual progressive mitral regurgitation? Are there two different populations? Because of the long course of the disorder, several more years of observation (and, it is hoped, prospective longitudinal study) will be required to answer this question.