The mitral valve prolapse--panic disorder connection

Whether mitral valve prolapse (MVP) is more common in patients with panic disorder (PD) and agoraphobia with panic attacks (AgP) than in the normal population is controversial. A related issue is whether the presence of MVP in such patients has any clinical or biological significance. Echocardiograms were performed on 36 patients with PD/AgP and 22 normal controls. MVP was found to be more common in PD/AgP patients than in normal controls. However, MVP in the patients was mild and not associated with thickened mitral leaflets or small left ventricular size. Moderate or severe prolapse was uncommon in both groups. Patients with MVP had trends to higher heart rate and prolonged QTc interval on EKG, and reported more respiratory difficulty during panic attacks compared to patients without MVP. Lactate infusion did not affect patients with MVP differently than patients without MVP. The authors conclude that MVP is more common in patients with PD or AgP than in normal controls, but is of doubtful clinical significance.