Study on the mitral valve prolapse. I. Incidence in Kobe University students. II. Follow up study

Incidence of mitral valve prolapse (MVP) in 4517 students of Kobe University, and clinical features in cases with MVP were studied. MVP was detected in 42 cases by two-dimensional echocardiography, and the prevalence of MVP was 0.93 percent (42 of 4517 cases). Among 42 cases with MVP, apparent mitral regurgitation (MR) was noted in one case with severe MVP, ventricular tachycardia was detected in one and ST-T wave abnormalities were detected in 10 respectively. In another follow up study of our hospital, 14 of 85 patients followed more than one year were noted to be deterioration in echocardiographic parameters. Eight of 14 patients had severe prolapse with severe MR, but remaining 6 had mild or moderate prolapse with mild or absent of MR. However, ST-T wave abnormalities, serious arrhythmias, and low response of %FS increase on exercise were found in high incidence in 6 of mild or moderate prolapse as well as in severe prolapse. So these follow up results suggested that not only students with severe MVP but also students with mild or moderate MVP with ST-T wave changes or VPC found in university medical examination must be followed up carefully.