Am J Psychiatry 1986; 143:349-352
Copyright © 1986 by American Psychiatric Association
Prevalence of anxiety disorders in patients with mitral valve prolapse
DL Mazza, D Martin, L Spacavento, J Jacobsen and H Gibbs
Most previous research on mitral valve prolapse investigated its prevalence
in patients whose primary diagnosis was one of the anxiety disorders. This
study explored the inverse, i.e., the prevalence of anxiety disorders in
patients manifesting mitral valve prolapse. There were no significant
differences between patients (N = 48) and control subjects (N = 49) in
panic disorder, phobic disorder, or generalized anxiety disorder or in the
Zung depression score. The patient group scored significantly higher than
control subjects on the Zung Anxiety Scale but significantly lower than
Zung's patients with "anxiety neurosis". These results cast doubt on the
hypothesis that mitral valve prolapse is etiologically related to the
pathogenesis of the anxiety disorders.
