Of 46 female agoraphobic patients, three had definite and four had
probable mitral valve prolapse--a total prevalence of only 15%. There were
no significant differences between patients with mitral valve prolapse and
the rest of the sample on demographic and clinical variables, nor did the
groups differ significantly on measures of psychological symptoms assessed
before and after treatment. These negative findings support recent reports
indicating that agoraphobia associated with mitral valve prolapse may be
indistinguishable from agoraphobia without mitral valve prolapse.Abstract Teaser