[Ventricular arrhythmias in patients with mitral valve prolapse and spurious cords in heart ventricles]

The aim of the work to assess the frequency of ventricular arrhythmias in patients with isolated mitral valve prolapse isolated spurious cords in heart ventricles as well as in those patients who had both, mitral valve prolapse and spurious cord in heart ventricle. Out of 4156 successive electrocardiographic investigations carried out at the Department and Clinic of Cardiology, Medical Academy in Wroclaw, coexistence of spurious cords in heart ventricle and mitral valve prolapse was diagnosed in 32 patients (0.8% of all subjects), isolated mitral valve prolapse--in 184 patients (4.4%) and presence of isolated spurious cords not accompanied by mitral valve prolapse--in 91 patients (2.2%). In 20 patients with coexistence of spurious cords in heart ventricles and mitral valve prolapse, ventricular arrhythmias occurred in 12 subjects (60.0%) and in 5 of them they were significant. In the group of 29 patients with isolated spurious cords, disturbances of the ventricular rhythm occurred in 13 subjects (44.8%), while significant ventricular arrhythmias were found in 6 patients (20.7%). Out of 60 subjects with isolated mitral valve prolapse disturbances of the ventricular rhythm were found in 20 patients (33.3%) and significant arrhythmias--in 12 subjects (20.0%). The observations did not reveal increased prevalence of significant ventricular disturbances of the heart rhythm in patients with coexisting mitral valve prolapse and spurious cords in the heart ventricles.