High prevalence of 'mitral valve prolapse syndrome' (MVPS) among older children and adolescents in a contained population

摘要

Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) is a disorder of closure of mitral valve and billowing out of the valve during cardiac systole [1]. Pathophysiol-ogy of MVP is thought to be a continuing process of repeated minor injury and repair occurring during the cardiac cycle in a mitral valve with minor congenital anatomical variations in the valve apparatus. This may explain the age dependent development and progression of prolapse. Two distinct types of 'mitral valve prolapse' (MVP) are recognized. The primary or the classic type is also known as mitral valve prolapse syndrome (MVPS). It is associated with abnormalities of mitral valve leaflets as well as perivalvular supportive tissue such as chordae tendineae and annulus. In addition, MVPS is also associated with extra cardiac manifestations such as skeletal, connective tissue and neurop-sychiatric features. In the secondary or non-classic type, the defect is restricted to mitral valve without perivalvular or systemic manifestations.