Am J Psychiatry 1980; 137:467-469
Copyright © 1980 by American Psychiatric Association
Mitral valve prolapse syndrome in agoraphobic patients
JS Kantor, CM Zitrin and SM Zeldis
Twenty-five agoraphobic women were compared with 23 controls for the
presence of mitral valve prolapse syndrome (MVP). All subjects underwent
cardiac examination, electrocardiography, phonocardiography, and
echocardiography. Eleven of the agoraphobic patients had MVP; 5 had echo
findings alone, 3 had both auscultory and echo findings, and 3 had
auscultory findings alone. Two controls had evidence of MVP, both with echo
findings alone. Echo chamber size and wall motion were similar in both
groups. One patient had inferior T wave changes on ECG while all controls
had normal tracings. The authors conclude that a significant number of
agoraphobic patients have MVP and discuss the thoretical and clinical
implications of this association.
